


Love Is Just A Cage We Build for Ourselves

by thiamislife_thiamislove



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Argent has too much real estate, Brett Talbot (referenced), Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Hunters, M/M, Stressed Liam, Teen Wolf, Thiam, Thiam Big Bang 2020, fugitive Theo (but only briefly), past traumas, the zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thiamislife_thiamislove/pseuds/thiamislife_thiamislove
Summary: Forgotten by the rest of Beacon Hills, Liam Dunbar and Theo Raeken find an unlikely refuge from the world around them in the abandoned Hill Valley Zoo.Sometimes a prison can be a fortress, what's holding you back an anchor, and maybe (just maybe) some cages are worth embracing.
Relationships: Chris Argent/Melissa McCall, Liam Dunbar & Theo Raeken, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 5
Kudos: 75
Collections: Thiam Big Bang 2020 Collection





	1. Run Boy Run

**Author's Note:**

> Based on prompt #1: The zoo becomes Theo and Liam’s hangout. 
> 
> Special thanks to the artist I was impossibly lucky enough to be paired with, the marvelous, most amazing Manon! She really managed to bring this fic to life! Check out all the unbelievable works here:
> 
> [Main](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634895921452367872/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)   
>  [Aesthetic for the fic](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634896008175861760/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)   
>  [Aesthetic for Liam and Theo](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634896045074186240/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)   
>  [Thiam in cages](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634896087608688642/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)   
>  [Thiam with lacrosse sticks](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634896115336085504/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)   
>  [Thiam and zoo places merged](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634896153347047424/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)   
>  [REVERSE](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634896190932189184/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)   
>  [Theo taking liam’s pain](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634896226536587264/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)   
>  [Thiam kiss](https://manonisamelon.tumblr.com/post/634896255017959424/for-the-officialthiamlibrary-2020-big-bang-event)

** 2020 Thiam Big Bang Fic: Prompt 1 Zoo **

Love Is Just A Cage We Build for Ourselves

Chapter 1: Run Boy Run

Liam silenced his backup _backup_ alarm that he had set on his phone. He was honestly surprised he hadn’t needed it, given how little sleep he managed to get in before all the shouting finally stopped.

“Mom, I’m going out for a ru-”, he didn’t need to finish that statement, the empty wine bottle at the foot of the stairs told him everything.

_Dad must have called again_.

Not Dr. Geyer, but his biological dad. It had been years since they had last spoken, let alone seen each other after the divorce. They had tried to do the shared custody thing for a little while, but after Liam came back from a weekend with a black eye, enough was enough. Now it was just the occasional phone call that neither of them asked for. It didn’t help his mom any that his step-father was always picking up extra shifts at the hospital.

Saying nothing more, he quietly closed the door behind him on his way out. Placing one headphone in each ear, he queued up his extra angsty running playlist and started down the driveway.

\-------

_Tap_

_Tap Tap Tap_

Theo rolled over, blanket tangled all around him, as he squinted through the early morning sunlight that was coming in the windows of his truck. He knew that sound.

 _Fuck_ he thought to himself. The next tap wasn’t a gentle hand knock, but rather the butt of a flashlight

“State police, is anyone inside?” a loud voice called out

“Just give me a minute” the chimera called back groggily, as he felt around for his shoes. His muscles ached from the cramped position he had been curled up in; he really needed to look into an air mattress for the truck bed. Or, you know, a home maybe?

_TAP TAP_ “Sir! Please come out of the vehicle slowly and with your hands where we can see them” came the especially loud reply from the officer

_Not off to a good start_ he thought to himself while finishing tugging on his Converse. Sitting up he began to maneuver his way towards the nearest door on the drivers’ side of the truck cab, fishing his keys out from the still extended cup-holder in the center console. Pausing he took a deep breath as he pulled open the door release and stepped out of the cab, brushing his hair out of his face he turned to face the officer.

“Are you the owner of this vehicle?” the short but gruff looking officer barked

“Yes sir, is there a problem?” Theo asked in reply. He watched as the trooper furrowed his moustache as he pulled up his clipboard, the incident report sheet reflecting in his mirrored aviators.

“This truck’s parked here illegally, did you know that?” the officer asked, looking up from the sheet and staring in Theo’s general direction. Theo couldn’t see his eyes behind the mirrored shades so he wasn’t really sure.

“Uh, no sir I didn’t, but it won’t happen again I promise” he lied, doing his best to exude pure innocence. _Shit, how does Liam make this look so easy._

“Uh huh” the officer remarked in disbelief. He shifted the toothpick he had dangling from the edge of his lip to the other side of his mouth as he turned over the page on his clipboard. “S’pose you didn’t know that you were parking illegally any of these other dozen or so odd times either?” he added, staring down so that his sunglasses slid just far enough down his nose that Theo could finally see the disapproving whites of the man’s eyes.

Theo feigned an innocent smile, the kind that usually worked on waitresses, cashiers, and generally just other girls his age. “Maybe you could just let me off with a warning this one last time?” he asked

“How ‘bout instead you show me your license and registration so I can write up this ticket” came the unamused counter-offer.

“Just let me get them out of my truck” Theo offered, pointing towards the truck, his hands still raised per the officer’s instructions

“Make it quick” came the curt reply, followed immediately the man spitting off to the side. He set his clipboard down over the corner at the back of the bed of the truck, keeping his right hand close to his still holstered side-arm.

Theo opened the door nearest to him, the driver’s side, and began to climb over the driver’s seat and across the center-console to the passenger seat to access the glove-box where the requested documents resided. Well not really, his license was in his wallet, unfortunately expired while he was preoccupied being in hell. Registration? Dread Doctors always handled the paperwork.

No, instead Theo carefully climbed into the passenger seat and waited, keeping his eyes on the officer he had now managed to position entirely between himself and the truck.

At a moment’s notice he flung open the passenger door and took off running down the road, taking full advantage of his supernatural abilities to try to put as much distance between himself and the officer before the latter managed to get to their patrol car.

“What the hell?” the officer shouted as he turned in the direction of the slamming door and footsteps pounding against the pavement and gravel. “Hey come back here!!” he ordered. Leaning over into his radio, he squeezed the transmitter button “all units we’ve got a suspect escaping on foot, requesting back-up, I’m in pursuit”. The state police dispatch responded in kind, and within minutes the patrol car was speeding towards the fleeing youth.

\-------

Theo was breathing heavy, taking in gulps of air as his feet carried him faster and faster down the roadside. Running away from the cops wasn’t really his plan, more just an impulse when it seemed like things weren’t going his way. _What next_. His mind was racing almost as fast as he was. Not too far ahead of him he spotted an access road that seemed to detour towards some trees. _Some cover_ , he thought. As he heard the roaring engine and squealing tires gaining on him, he pushed ahead and turned down the path.

\-------

Liam was now on his second go through of his playlist, not that it was short, quite the contrary. Rather this was a Saturday, the air was just right, and when he was running his mind wasn’t worried about other things. Things he couldn’t change. He wasn’t quite sure where he was, he passed the school quite a while back, which he knew was about 3 miles from his house. He needed to listen to Mason and get a gps tracker for his runs. Gradually most of the houses and apartment complexes had given way to storefronts and factories; after a while, even those faded away until it was just pavement and trees, with the occasional mile marker on the side.

Slowing his pace before coming to a halt in front of the “You are now leaving Beacon Hills” sign, he decided to turn around. Still not ready to be finished with his run, this time he decided to take a different route back. Coming up on his left, he saw what appeared to be an access road, a gradual incline curving off to who knows where. Turning, he started up this path less traveled.

\-------

By now Theo was almost at a full sprint, sweat pouring through all of his clothes (his hoodie long since discarded). He was clearly on some far-off backroad at this point, the pavement having given way to gravel, which in turn evolved into just dirt. He couldn’t hear the cruiser behind him anymore either, but he was doubtful he had truly lost his pursuer.

Liam continued at his quickened pace, doing his best to avoid leaning too much into his supernatural abilities. The road continued to twist and wind upward, forest surrounding his approach on either side. As he neared the crest of the hill, he passed a sign for the Hill Valley zoo, plastered with warnings about trespassing and notices of being permanently closed.

Liam continued on his run, he was out here to clear his head, not read.

The road ahead ran straight with no apparent obstacles, so he chose to close his eyes for a moment, taking in the sounds of his music along with the feel of the wind rushing against his face, the smells of nature all around him and the fire running though the muscles in his legs. There was no one out here as near as he could tell.

Theo took one last look back as he neared the next turn in the road, a hard 90-degree bend; he didn’t see anyone following behind him, not that officer grumpy mcmustache seemed in any shape to stand a chance at catching the chimera on foot. As the dirt and gravel turned back into paved road, Theo turned back to look at where he was going, though it was far too late.

Liam finally opened his eyes and much to his surprise found himself on a collision course with a figure in a sweat soaked shirt that had seemed to materialize out of thin air.

The two bodies collided forcefully, knocking each of them off their balance; fortunately, their supernatural reflexes were more than enough to keep either of them from meeting the ground below, though the same couldn’t be said for Liam’s headphones.

“Hey, watch it!” Theo shouted, taking a brief moment to catch his breath

Liam was still in shock that there was someone else out here, all morning he hadn’t passed a soul; and now here he was face to face with . . . “Theo?” he said in disbelief “What are you _doing_ out here?”

“Could be asking you the same thing” he panted, still out of breath. He stood back up fully, no longer resting his hand on his knees for support, “I’d like to say it was good running into you, but” he trailed off

Sirens echoed through trees, and the faint whirring of helicopter blades cutting through the air could be heard at a distance.

“Shit” Theo cursed. He took off again, sprinting as fast as he could in the direction Liam had just come from

“Sorry?” Liam called out, before putting his earbuds back in and resuming his run.

_Of all the people in Beacon Hills to run into out here, Theo?!_

\-------

Theo rocked forward in the wooden-backed swivel chair in the Sheriff’s office as the door squeaked opened; he lifted his hands but the futile gesture was halted midway off the arm-rest with an audible clank, the handcuffs tethering him to the chair refusing to yield in their restraint.

“You care to guess why you’re here?” Sheriff Stilinski asked, only somewhat rhetorically, and with an odd pause at the end. He had one eye slightly squinted and an unamused frown spread across his weathered face as he walked over to lean against the side of his desk, coffee mug in one hand.

He had to fight his reflex of appending “son” when he addressed younger male suspects; this was _Theo Raeken_ after all.

“Because bullshit charges like vagrancy and loitering are how the state of California says welcome to adulthood?” Theo replied before leaning back in the chair, letting his hands fall back to the armrest, the slack in the chains clinked as they dragged against the wood.

Sheriff Stilinski thumbed through the manilla folder that held Theo’s official police record, eyes skimming over all of the prior incidents he had accumulated over the past 6 months. He set down his coffee mug and adjusted his lean against the desk. “Aren’t you supposed to be finishing up school?”

“aren’t you supposed to be retired?” the chimera sassed back, smug grin on his face.

The sheriff shook his head and let out a deep sigh in annoyance, closing the folder and tossing it aside before bringing his arm to rest across his thigh not too far from his holster

“Do you have any, even the faintest idea how lucky you were judge didn’t just throw you in jail?!” sheriff Stilinski nearly shouted, his eyes wincing in frustration as he massaged one side of temple with a free hand.

“I’d get off for good behavior” came the smug reply

“hardly” he scoffed back, picking up another sheet of paper he began to read from the sentencing sheet “Judge Greenberg decided that instead of locking you up, which for the record I said was the right call, you are to perform court mandated community service until such a time as either you have paid off your outstanding fines or that it is otherwise determined that your debt to the community is deemed to have been met”

“So, what I have to pick up trash by the side of the road? Read to orphans?” Theo began

“Hold up, I’m not finished yet!” Sheriff Stilinski cut him off, “furthermore, when you are not out actively serving the good people of Beacon Hills; you are to, independently and on your own time, complete the coursework required to finish out the remaining credits needed for your high school diploma.” The sheriff set the sheet down, and took a quick sip from his lukewarm coffee. “Judge was very clear about that last part, something about his son being held back a few years but still getting his diploma, eventually”

Theo closed his eyes and threw his head back, slouching in the chair as much as his restraints would permit. “Fine, is that all?” he groaned, “I think I’d rather have the jail time”

“Not with a face like that” Sheriff Stilinski quipped back. At that point he motioned with his two fingers for the man that was waiting just outside the door to come inside.

Chris Argent entered the room, a modest black metal briefcase in his right hand. Setting it down on the sheriff’s desk he looked over to the other man and waited for further instructions.

“Also, in addition to all of this” Stilinski started, triggering another exasperated groan from the chimera, “you are subject to a curfew, during which hours you will remain under house arrest as per the terms of your probation” he finished

Theo immediately burst out into laughter, the grin and disbelief combining into what could only be described as purely maniacal. “you’re kidding, right?” he asked looking from the sheriff to Argent and then back again. “what are you going to do, chain me to my truck?!” he continued, stunned at just how profoundly stupid ‘house arrest’ sounded to someone who didn’t have a home. 

“We were thinking of a more hi-tech approach” Sheriff Stilinski said, giving a curt nod, to which Argent dialed in the combination and sprung open the briefcase. The inside was lined with dark gray foam padding, with cut-outs to allow for its contents to be securely stored within. From inside he withdrew the specially modified ankle bracelet.

“Left, or right?” Argent asked as he knelt down in front of the chimera with the ankle bracelet in hand

Theo reluctantly extended his left foot, the bearded man taking hold and firmly securing the device almost a little too tightly.

“It’s got 24/7 gps monitoring, and also tracks all your vitals; heartrate, blood pressure, temperature, everything” Argent began to explain

“What happens if I try to take it off?” Theo asked

“I wouldn’t” Argent advised, ominously. Standing back up he opened his phone. “Looks like it’s working” he said showing the app that was displaying all of the data from the ankle monitor, first to the sheriff, and then to Theo.

“As for where you’ll be staying . . .” Stilinski trailed off. He gulped down the last of his coffee, wishing for something stronger.

“Now as Mr. Argent here has graciously agreed to settle up your outstanding financial obligations, the court agreed to his appointment to supervise the terms of your probation”

“What?!” Theo said in disbelief, eyebrows raised.

“I assure you this thrills me just as much as it does you” the bearded man quipped. Reaching along his belt, Stilinski grabbed his keyring and unlocked the handcuffs that were restraining the youth. Theo massaged his now free wrist with his other hand from where the metal had been cutting into his hand.

_Great_

_______

_“Because you’re the only one that could stop him”_

Liam could still hear Scott’s voice echo in his head as he walked up to the entrance of the old zoo. Reaching into his pocket he checked his phone again, still no reply from when he last texted Theo to meet him here.

The sun was starting to set and Liam bristled as a cold gust blew behind him, a few leaves and some trash tumbling ahead of him along the wind.

This wasn’t how he envisioned his day would end. Maybe he’d finally get a night where he could just do his homework. Maybe he’d finally have a night where could play video games and _not_ do his homework. Not in Beacon Hills.

He didn’t _ask_ for this. He didn’t _volunteer_ to be here. But when Scott asked if he could patrol the zoo to check for any recent signs of hunter activity, he didn’t object either.

_“Why do I have to go with Theo?”_

He knew. He knew before he even asked. No one else in the pack would deal with him. No one else _could_ deal with him. Not with what remained of the pack. With most the others off to college, it was down to just himself, Mason and Corey, and sometimes Nolan.

_Was it really a pack if he was the only wolf?_

He tried not to think about it. Tried not to worry about what was going to happen when they all graduated this spring.

Looking around there was still no sign of Theo as he approached the concrete stairs. If it weren’t for the possible hunters, there was something almost tranquil about this place. He thought back to the last time he was here. To the Anuk-Ite, to the hunters. To the moment he almost killed Nolan. The moment he lost control. Until someone stopped him.

Still walking about the abandoned paths of the zoo, a discarded can dared to try and trip him up. Quickly focusing his fury on the inanimate hunk of aluminum, Liam kicked the can as hard as he could, sending it flying into one of the vacant fake caves that lined the edge of the picnic area, clattering loudly as it collided with the walls.

“got your text” a voice called out in response. Stepping from the shadows of the artificial grotto, Theo made himself known.

“Could’ve texted back” Liam huffed

“I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Liam could barely keep eye contact with him, it was just like when they had been together at the hospital. For a moment sure, but then something inside made him look away. Something he couldn’t _control_.

“I’ve already scouted out this place” Theo began, taking a few more steps towards Liam, “if there was anyone here, they’ve been gone a long time” he finished, leaning against one of the rock walls behind him, his black hoodie and beanie blending in with the falling darkness all around.

“We should go over it again, just to be sure” Liam insisted. It’s not that he doubted Theo. Well not that he doubted Theo _that much_. In fact, from everything he had observed up to this point, **they** were probably the last ones who had been here. There was just something in him that wasn’t ready to go back home, not yet, just a few more minutes wandering about.

“Whatever” the chimera shrugged ambivalently, “lead the way”

They spent the next hour wandering around all of the various hideaways and winding passages throughout the zoo; all clearly having been not touched for some time.

Liam could have easily finished his patrol a lot sooner; he could tell his sluggish pace was irritating the boy behind him. Several times Theo bumped into him, always with an annoyed huff and never an apology.

Liam bit the inside of his cheek. Not even a year ago he wouldn’t have thought twice about making Theo stay in front of him, preferably in restraints. Now he was trusting him to watch his back?

The hairs on the back of his neck still stood on end though when the chimera neared, and whenever he felt the forceful bursts of breath the other boy passive-aggressively exhaled to tell him to speed it up. 

_“Trust isn’t important right now”_ Theo’s words flashed through his thoughts. _“Then what is?”_

Eventually, they found themselves back where they had started, with no signs of hunters to report.

“See?” Theo remarked, “told you I cleared it already”

Liam shrugged, “I guess” he sighed. He pulled out his phone to see if there were any updates from the rest of the pack. Just a lot of “all clears”.

Theo took a few steps forward, he paused for moment, a degree of nervous trepidation as he started to lift a hand before instead redirecting it back into his pocket.

“Go home Liam” came the calm, slightly raspy voice in the night air. Not as an order, but more an acknowledgement of what Liam knew he had been avoiding up to this point.

“I know I’m not in your pack group chat, but if Scott calls, I’ll let him know you were here”

Liam nodded, before realizing it was pitch black out.

“thanks” he said back, finally releasing his lower lip from the hold of his bite.

\-------

Theo waited until the sound of Liam’s footsteps had long since faded into the silence of the darkness that cloaked the zoo. Minutes passed, as he stood there silently; an unlikely sentinel. The wind shifted direction, an eastern gust carrying a new scent, one of those “unscented” masking deodorants sold by outdoor equipment places and bait shops. Theo smirked, it was a clever attempt he conceded, though entirely futile against supernaturally enhanced senses.

Slowly, he lifted his foot and took a carefully placed step forward, letting the leaves crunch as he went. From behind him he listened as whoever was tracking him attempted to copy his movement, hoping to mask their own sounds with his.

He took another step, quicker this time, easing into a slow walk while keeping his shoulders and arms relaxed. Nothing to give away that he knew he was being followed. _Not yet anyway_.

Passing the last of the rows of cages he was now at the back entrance of what appeared to be an old storage shed. Shed was a bit of an understatement, it was more of a barn, though like much of the rest of the property, its best days were clearly behind it, the sagging, rusted corrugated steel roof seeming like it could collapse at a moment’s notice. Theo was grateful he had retained his coyote/werewolf night vision, the interior of the building was littered with all manner of debris.

As he was midway through the structure, he noticed the paces behind him had quickened, his pursuer abandoning their tactic of trying to hide their movements behind his. Quickening his own pace to a light jog, Theo made for the exit of the building, a steel fence extending partially outward, not quite reaching the tree line.

The moment he stepped outside the barn; an all too familiar CLICK stopped him in his tracks.

“Don’t move!” came an angry shout from his left.

Theo snarled, his eyes glowed and his fangs bared. He started to turn to face the man who dared point a gun at him.

“I said DON’T MOVE!” the man ordered again, this time with a pump of the shotgun he had leveled at the chimera, no doubt chambering a wolfsbane laden round.

“Alright, let’s take it easy” Theo replied, raising his hands up and withdrawing his fangs. The man who had been pursuing him earlier was now right behind him, the cold metal barrel of his pistol now pressed firmly into the middle of his spine.

“Start walkin’” the one with the shotgun ordered.

“aren’t you going to tie me up or something first? No wolfsbane laced rope? Silver handcuffs?” Theo questioned, “I’m not telling you how to do your job or anything, but it seems a bit careless for ‘professionals’”

Reversing the position of the shotgun in one swift motion, the mand jabbed the butt of the weapon into Theo’s lower rib before just as quickly returning him to its sights. “Got everything we need right here” came the smug answer, “but hell, don’t see why not”, he motioned with his free hand towards his counterpart as the other began to reach for the pair of handcuffs dangling from his back-pocket.

Theo winced as pain shot through his side, “good to know” he wheezed out; playing into the pain he staggered one foot after the other, forward as directed towards the tree line.

 _Argent better be getting all this_ he thought

The man behind him was struggling to keep the pistol nestled in his back as he used his free hand to slip the cuffs on his quarry. Theo wasn’t making it any easier as he hunched over slightly in reaction to the jab in the ribs.

A few more steps forward.

They were almost there.

“You two hunt a lot of werewolves, or am I your first?” Theo grimaced

“You talk too much” came the reply from the shotgun man, “lucky you’re worth more alive than dead or we’d have shot you already”

“You clearly aren’t from Beacon Hills then” Theo laughed; another sharp jab from the pistol in his back pressing them onward.

Stumbling forward into the brush, Theo knew he had only a few more steps before the trees gave way to a small ravine; assuming these hunters were as dumb as they looked, they likely didn’t share his knowledge of the oncoming change in topography.

As they stumbled through the trees, Theo noted how the shotgun man was now lacking the clearance needed to keep his weapon directly pointed at him. The man behind him with the pistol so lovingly poking his back, was also not enjoying the occasional branch to the face their wooded foray was providing. They took another step forward.

_Almost there_.

Sensing his moment was at hand, Theo stopped in his tracks, causing the man behind him to clumsily run into him like a bad accident. “You do know I’m not a werewolf, right?” he asked. He began to extend his claws and fangs out as stealthily as he could.

“Yeah yeah, sure – you think we’re _stupid_ or something?” the shotgun man replied, very much irritated by Theo’s antics at this point. He swore he heard a branch snap somewhere off in the distance.

“You _really_ want me to answer that?” Theo growled back; his eyes now bright golden yellow. In an instant, he spun around, much too fast for the man with the pistol in his back to follow. His other captor struggling frantically to level his weapon at him through the brush.

In one motion, Theo was able to bring his still cuffed hands to his front and envelop the man who had been previously behind him in what could loosely be construed as hug. Theo’s left hand was under the man’s left arm, while his right stayed under his chin, the metal chain from the handcuffs tight across the pistol wielding man’s chest and throat.

Taking a step backwards, Theo did his best to keep his pursuer-turned-hostage between himself and the shotgun pointing in his direction.

At least he thought he had a step left behind him.

The chimera felt his foot slip out from under him as the muddy edge of the ravine gave way. Falling on his back he clung to the hunter he had subdued to his chest, the latter letting loose a shot as the weapon feel from his hands

The man with the shotgun didn’t know what happened. The sound of the gunshot resulted in a slip of his finger, sending the scattered rounds aimlessly through the forest. As the shotgun fell heavy from his grip, he coughed roughly. A sudden pain now radiated through his chest, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. Each breath left a metallic sting as a burning sensation began to fill his lungs.

Theo had reached the bottom of the ravine, managing to keep the hunter pinned against him with the metal chain of his restraints. That’s not to say he wasn’t putting up a struggle; the two twisted and rolled about the bottom of the ravine, mud covering both their clothes. Theo was doing his best to hold tight the chain against the other man’s throat, trying to cut off the circulation.

“Why won’t you pass out already?!” he growled in frustration at the hunter’s dogged determination to resist.

It was perhaps only two steps further, just as the earth started to regain a positive slope, that Theo felt it. The heat. The numbness. The _pain_. If there was a storm out, he would have assumed this was lightning; but no, the atmosphere was calm this night. The same could not be said for his ankle monitor, for the instant he veered one centimeter outside of the boundary line around Beacon Hills that Chris Argent had entered into the GPS monitor, a million joules of electricity pulsed through his body. The electrical current leapt across the metal of the handcuffs, still dug across the chest of the hunter, instantly killing the trapped assailant.

The burned chimera leaned against the nearest incline, _on the safe side_. The weakened metal of the handcuffs now giving way, the lifeless man that had been his captor turned captive now slumped across his lap face first into the muddy ground below. Theo tried to catch his breath, what he would give to still have Josh’s powers just now. 

“I guess you do make pretty good bait” came the gruff, but amused assessment from up above. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know who it was.

_Argent_


	2. Prisoner

Chapter 2: Prisoner

Liam tossed his controller aside, a frustrated breath escaped along with a buzzing sound from his lips; video games just weren’t cutting it.

It was a Saturday. One that he didn’t have lacrosse, or school things, or for once in the longest span of Beacon Hills history that he could recount, any supernatural crises needing to be averted.

He should be _doing something_ he thought, anything but staying locked up in his room all day. He fell back on his bed as he pulled out his phone. Nothing new in the pack group chat, well a few updates from Malia regarding her latest European adventures.

He started to thumb through his contacts, Mason and Corey had some big physics project they were going to be working on all weekend, at least that’s what they had told him yesterday. He could read between the lines. If Hayden were still here, that’s exactly what they would’ve been doing. Nolan? He was fine to hang out with in a group, and they really did work well together as co-captains, but off the field it was still a rather awkward friendship to say the least. All of his friends were either busy, away at college, on some adventure, or . . . Theo. He paused for a moment on that last name, hovering over it a few seconds longer than he would’ve ever cared to admit, before redirecting his thumb to lock his screen.

He needed to _do_ something, physically; it was like the feeling you get right before a sneeze, or when you know whatever grounded thing you touch next is going to shock you from the static you’ve built up. _Maybe it’s this room_ he thought to himself.

He grabbed his practice bag from the floor, laundry day so there weren’t any jerseys or safety gear inside, just a short-stick and an old lacrosse ball.

\-------

Liam lifted the rear window hatch to the back of his truck; he could almost hear Hayden making some comment about the unlikeliness of him making it all the way out here without it breaking down. Snorting dismissively, he slammed the hatch back down after withdrawing his practice bag, a faint tinkling sound the result of the falling rust and chipped paint.

Ordinarily he would have just gone to practice field behind the high-school, that’s where he had started for at least. Something inside him however urged him to keep driving, and upon seeing the unusually packed parking lot at the school he decided not to argue with it.

Setting his bag down on a nearby picnic table, he rummaged around for a lacrosse ball.

There was no one else out here, the small lot had weeds growing in the pavement where cars once parked. It wasn’t too late in the day, but definitely the back half of the afternoon he noted, as the falling sun’s rays cast long shadows of the metal animal cutouts that adorned one of the archways leading further into the zoo.

Squeezing the ball with his clenched hand he whipped it at the back of rock wall opposite the table area; with a swift motion he grabbed his lacrosse stick just in time to scoop the returning projectile out of the air as it bounced back towards him. He spun the stick with enough force to keep the ball held in place in his net before once more releasing it in front of him against the rocky enclosure. A solid thwack sound rang out as the rubber ball crashed against the uneven surface, before bouncing back towards Liam’s direction.

\-------

“Text me when you find them, otherwise I’ll be back in an hour” Argent called out from the rolled down window of the black SUV. Theo nodded in acknowledgement, holding his phone out to show that he had it with him. Turning he started to make his way up the road that led back to the zoo. 

As he made his way up to where the grade leveled off, he saw one very familiar looking Bronco parked just outside the “Permanently Closed” sign near the entrance. “ _Of course,”_ he mumbled

Liam finally had gotten into his rhythm, seamlessly moving from catching the ball in his net, to pitching it right back into the shallow enclosure in one fluid motion. The uneven surface of the artificial rocks caused the ball to bounce back at him in unpredictable directions. So lost in focus was he, that he didn’t hear the far-off noise of Argent’s vehicle peeling out on the gravel, nor did he notice the less than stealthy approaching footsteps slowly nearing from behind him.

Theo, trying to retrace his steps from the night before, approached the picnic area near the faux-grotto. There, precisely where he needed to start looking, was Liam. Flinging a lacrosse ball all over the place.

“Hey, can I-”

THWOP, the sound of the ball ricocheting off the wall sounded stopping him before he could finish

“Do you min-”

Another THWOP cut him off

“L-”, the consonant had barely left his mouth before yet another swoosh of the net and THWOP from the lacrosse ball rang out.

Theo scowled, “LIAM!” he roared, fangs teased and eyes lightly flashing

“What?” Liam asked, catching the ball and turning around to face the irate chimera

Theo huffed, “any chance you could stop for a minute so that I could get over there?” he asked gesturing to one of the fake caves where he had waited for Liam last night.

“No one’s stopping you” Liam replied, still holding the ball in the net of his lacrosse stick

Theo started walking towards the rocky enclosure, a guttural “hmmph” and side-eye amounting to his best “Thank you”.

He stepped into the shallow cave entrance and kicked around through the piles of leaves. _Nothing_. Right as he was poised to make an overly dramatic sigh, a lacrosse ball came whizzing by, just barely grazing the top of his head before it bounced back out of the cave.

“Hey, watch it!” Theo exclaimed.

Liam took another swing, sending the ball flying at the chimera with lighting speed. The shot met its intended target, nailing Theo on the outside of his knee, before bouncing back along the ground.

“You hit me!” Theo winced as he was caught off-guard, his leg caving briefly before he regained his footing.

By this time Liam had scooped up the ball and was ready for another volley. “Should probably move out of the way then” he deadpanned. He raised his stick and sent the ball flying in Theo’s direction once more.

“That’s it”, or at least that’s what he had started to say, before a rubber ball shot hard into his stomach. Theo doubled over as some of the wind involuntarily left his lungs. There was a small benefit to that shot however. Unflexed abs, even ones as defined as Theo’s, were a _soft_ target, easily absorbing most of the kinetic energy from a lacrosse ball. As such, he had managed to unintentionally catch and hold onto the offending object as he doubled over from the blow.

Releasing his stomach and finally taking a breath, Theo stood up. The lacrosse ball plopped sadly on the ground before him, which he easily stopped with his foot.

“Hey toss it back!” Liam called out expectantly

Theo smirked as he picked up the ball, “Nah, I think I’ll hold onto it for now” he mused turning it over in his hand.

“C’mon Theo, I was just playing” Liam tried again. Theo didn’t respond, rather just started to juggle the ball back and forth between his hands.

“Can I just have my ball back?” Liam groaned, jabbing the end of his lacrosse stick down into the dirt in frustration

“Are you going to stop throwing it at me?” Theo asked knowingly, a single eyebrow raised reflecting his suspicion

“Probably not” Liam confessed; lips turned down at each end

Theo stopped juggling the ball, instead holding it in his left hand and staring at it intently, as if it were some tool for divination. “I’ll give it back –” he trailed off

“You’ll give it back if what?” came the obligatory, and clearly annoyed, reply

“You help me look for something” Theo said looking up from the ball and meeting Liam’s gaze with his own. The stare left the other feeling uncomfortable, but he would be damned if he would be the first to look away.

“What is it” Liam sighed, unsure of whatever Faustian bargain he was about to enter with the chimera

“My keys” Theo answered, “I think they fell out of my pocket last night while we were patrolling” he explained

The banality of the request took the other boy by surprise, “you lost your _keys_?”. His turned down lips started to reverse direction at the unexpected averageness of the situation.

“Yeah” Theo confirmed, not nearly as amused as Liam. There was a moment of silence between the two, as if neither was sure who was supposed to speak next.

“So, are you going to help, or not?” Theo asked, his patience wearing thin. He only had an hour, probably 45 minutes now before Argent was back.

“I guess I can help search for them with you” Liam replied; he set his lacrosse stick down on the picnic table next to him on top of his loosely unzipped practice bag

“Okay, let’s search”

Theo stuffed the lacrosse ball into the pocket of his jeans, making an awkward bulge on his side.

\-------

Finishing their sweep of the area with the caves with no success, they started to retrace their steps from the other night. The zoo looked very different in the light of day. The long rays of the afternoon sun made it somehow feel less imposing, more _familiar_. The maze of winding paths and twisting stairways seeming instead to lead to unexplored adventures rather than waiting specters.

Now they had arrived at the cages; leaves and debris covered the concrete floors where exotic animals once stayed. Liam ran his hand against the solid iron bars while they walked, the decades of rust coating his fingers with an orange-brown color and a metallic smell.

“They built these in the Great Depression, did you know that?” he started, breaking the silence that had settled in. Theo looked at him briefly before going back to his search of the nearest cage.

“They used funds and workers from the WPA to build the cages, part of FDR’s New Deal” Liam continued to fill the space with words.

Theo stopped his search and turned to look over at the mildly on edge boy behind him. He could hear Liam’s heart beating a little faster than normal; he noticed how the beta’s eyes would dart away from the back of the cage; and how his lower lip gave the slightest quiver right before he spoke.

Theo just looked at him, the side of lip turning up in an approving smirk.

Liam had seen that stare before, the one that seemed so out of place for the snarky, asshole, chimera that always had to have the last word. “What?” he prompted, not always sure how to read Theo.

“You know your 20th century history as well as your classical” Theo observed with an impressed smile.

Liam nodded and sort of shrugged at the same time. It was true.

“C’mon let’s check out the observation area” Theo suggested. He was _mostly_ sure his keys weren’t here; actually, he was becoming more and more convinced that they were probably in the bottom of that ravine. That or Argent was playing some stupid game.

Still, there clearly was something about this particular part of the zoo that was bothering Liam; something that their conversation had managed to abate, for the moment.

“I’m kind of surprised the Dread Doctors never took notice of this place” Theo started as they left the area with the enclosures, trying to keep the conversation going. “It’s a lot better than being down in the sewers”

Liam hmmed, kicking a small rock up the sloping path; “probably not evil enough for them”

Theo chuckled, “yeah, and I doubt those cages would’ve held the Beast” he noted.

As they approached the upper level, they found it largely unchanged from how they had left it. Some litter intermingled with the decaying leaves, and dust piled into every corner. Theo ran his hand over the rough concrete of the half-wall nearest him, his nose twinging a little at the memory of Liam breaking it.

Liam began searching through the various connecting alcoves. He nudged one of the wadded up sleeping rolls that were still strewn about. There were unopened cans of food, and rotting apples scattered all over (those that scavengers hadn’t gotten to at least).

“Guess we forgot a few things” he mused while lifting up the edge of one of the sleeping bags for any signs of Theo’s missing keys. “This place is a mess”

“Yeah well, we were a little preoccupied at the time trying to not get ourselves killed” Theo said back, the trash pile he was sorting through yielding no sign of his lost keys either “or at least one of us was”

At that, Liam bit the inside of his cheek, the sting from the pain matching the memory brought on by Theo’s words. The wound healed almost instantly. The same could not be said for the lingering metallic taste it left in his mouth.

“We should clean it up” he finally managed, eager for a change in subject “I’m sure Scott’s mom probably wants their stuff back”

“Pretty sure Scott would’ve mentioned it by now if it really mattered” Theo countered, by now very much certain his keys weren’t here “Melissa’s not one to let something go”. He was honestly surprised she didn’t try to kill him herself that night at the hospital.

“Maybe.” Liam said, “maybe they just forgot”

Theo sighed; he could tell Liam wasn’t going to let this go anytime soon. “Fine, we can return all the gear _after_ we find my keys” he begrudgingly offered. 

“Tomorrow?” the beta immediately followed

Theo narrowed his eyes, “Tomorrow” he reluctantly confirmed

Liam nodded, and finally released the breath he had been holding awaiting Theo’s reply.

They spent a few more minutes combing through the area.

“I don’t think your keys are up here” he stated, nudging through another pile of leaves and supplies

“I think I’m beginning to agree with you” Theo admitted; he checked his phone, no new messages, but Argent was sure to be back soon. “There’s one other place they might be”

“What were you even _doing_ back here last night?” Liam asked as he pushed through the brambles that made up the thick undergrowth along the slope of the ravine.

“taking the scenic route” Theo grumbled sarcastically, ducking to avoid a nearby branch. He made sure to keep his searching to the “safe” side of the slope. He was positive they had to be out here somewhere.

Liam snorted reflexively; his eyes constantly scanning over the muddy floor of the ravine for anything that might stand out.

Theo watched from the corner of his eye as the beta got closer and closer to the bottom of the ravine. Thankfully Argent had moved the bodies of the fallen hunters from earlier. He saw some light glint off a small bit of metal, near about where had taken his electrifying tumble. Saying nothing he kept combing the ground before him anyway, though now keeping a more constant eye on Liam.

It wasn’t shiny metal that caught his eye, he wasn’t at the right angle for it; rather a small orb of light green plastic that stood out in vivid contrast to the muddy ground below. Kneeling down, Liam grabbed the round object with his fingers and pulled it upwards, a small metal chain and accompanying keyring following along. “This it?” he asked, holding it up and letting the keys dangle, bits of mud falling off.

Theo smiled, _knew he’d find it_

“Yeah, that’s it!” he confirmed

Liam looked over the worn keychain, the attached green ball with the number 9 on it was covered in scratches, and some of the plastic looked like it had melted where it connected to the metal chain.

A smirk crept over his face, grabbing the keys firmly, he raised his arm back and proceeded to throw them as hard as could deliberately over top of Theo

“Catch!” he shouted, still grinning stupidly

Theo watched as the key ring sailed over his head, towards where the trees met the clearing outside the barn. _At least he didn’t throw them to the other side_

“Really Liam?” he sighed, before turning and climbing the slope back up towards where he heard the keys land

“So, can I get my ball back?” Liam asked in all seriousness

Theo thought about turning around and whipping it at him right then and there, but decided on just ignoring him as the sweeter vengeance. Bending down, he retrieved his keys from the grass.

“Theo?” he called out again, as he began to make his way up and out of the ravine “Theo come on!”

The chimera just grinned and kept walking towards the main entrance to the zoo, the buzz of a text and low idling of an engine signaling that Argent was outside waiting.

\-------

\-------

_BZZZT BZZZT BZZZZZZT_

Theo’s phone vibrated loudly against the hard plastic of the dash, the light from the screen flickered brightly against the inside of the windshield piercing the surrounding darkness. Yeah, he was still sleeping in his truck; but at least it was parked inside a garage and not the side of the road. Even if it was _Argent’s_ garage.

Reaching for it based on sound rather than sight, his hand took several empty grasps of the dashboard before finally grabbing the buzzing device. Staring at the screen with one eye half-opened he saw the new message notification.

**Liam:** you up yet? _7:56am_

**Liam:** ???? _8:00am_

Theo turned it over, resting it screen down on his chest and securing it under the palm of his hand. He closed his eyes once more and started to drift back to sleep

_BZZT BZZT_

_BZZZT_

“Fuck” he muttered with a low grumble, tossing the phone aside.

Sitting up, he begrudgingly accepted his early morning fate as he started rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

\-------

Sitting on top of a nearby picnic table, Theo watched as the sunlight began to shine through the surrounding trees in earnest. It was a cool early autumn morning, just cold enough that he could see each breath as he exhaled. In the distance he heard a vehicle turn off, then a door slamming.

He didn’t need to look up to know who the approaching footsteps, crunching loudly over the gravel and fallen leaves, belonged to.

He did need to look up to check the unexpected scent that was now wafting all around him.

“You brought coffee?” Theo asked with eager surprise as the other boy moved to sit next to him on top of the table, setting a small carton holding two to-go cups between them.

“This your way of apologizing for hitting me with the lacrosse ball the other day?”

“Oh no, that was fun” Liam replied with a grin before reaching for his cup and blowing the steam off the top “This was just on the way”

Theo picked up the remaining cup, before reading the name hastily scrawled in black marker along the side “why does it say ‘satan’” he asked raising one eyebrow suspiciously at the other boy and now somewhat concerned as to the contents contained within.

“I panicked and didn’t know what to order” Liam confessed

“And?” Theo led, waiting for the rest of the explanation

“The barista wanted to know who orders six shots of espresso straight with no milk or sugar” Liam replied taking a sip of his coffee

Theo raised the cup to his lips, before welcoming in a sip of the hot, bitter, extremely caffeinated liquid within.

Liam watched in horror as what looked like euphoria passed over the face of the other boy while he took another sip.

“How do you drink _that_?”

Theo shrugged, “Guess I like mine uncomplicated, not trying to pretend it’s something it’s not” he said with another sip. “Unlike Mr. Toughguy with the pumpkin spice over here” he added with a disarming laugh, picking up the notes of cinnamon and nutmeg in the air emanating from the other cup, as well as the dab of whipped cream the other boy had managed to get on the tip of his nose.

“Shut up” Liam growled defensively, taking another defiant sip of his beverage, _“can’t help it if it tastes like fall”_ he mumbled to himself

The two of them sat there, watching the morning sun rise steadily in the sky while they each sipped their coffees in silence.

There was no hurry, no rush, no deadly threat to counter; their only priority today was to collect the rest of the supplies they had left behind from their last bout with the hunters.

Finishing his coffee, Theo reached into the pocket of his jacket, withdrawing the lacrosse ball he had promised to return earlier.

“Here” he offered, setting it down in the carton where Liam’s cup had been

Liam nodded in acknowledgement of the gesture and hopped off the table, setting his empty cup down in the carton next to the ball.

“Come on, let’s get started”

\-------

There wasn’t _that_ much to clean up. The whole point had been to convince Gerard and his hunters that Scott and the whole pack were camped out here, plus a few extra sleeping bags just to pad their numbers. Still, it didn’t take very long to sort everything out. A handful of hours tops? They made sure to shake out each sleeping bag, to make sure they were free of leaves and any wayward critters that might have decided to claim it for a home.

Liam held the black, reinforced trash bag he had brought while Theo handled the pick-up duty, using a tattered shirt he had found to scoop the undesirables. He rolled his eyes at the squeamish face the other made whenever he dropped in a dead rat or rotten piece of food.

“This would go faster if you’d let me use your lacrosse stick” Theo pointed out. Again.

“You could’ve brought like gloves or something you know” Liam countered. There was no way he was letting the chimera ruin his stick.

Theo just sighed at the futility of ever trying to argue with Liam Dunbar. “I think that looks good enough” he observed, throwing the shirt he had been using as a makeshift glove into the bag with the rest of the trash, “better than we found it at least”

Liam nodded in agreement; the sun was just now reaching its zenith in the sky, but they had already loaded up the sleeping bags and other equipment to be returned into the back of his Bronco. All that was left was to haul the trash to the nearest dumpster.

Tying off the bag, the two headed back towards the area where their vehicles were both parked.

\-------

The bag landed with a solid thud in the back of the pick-up truck, Theo having volunteered to take it to a garbage site on his way back. Both agreeing that it would be better that Liam was the one to bring the sleeping bags and stuff back to Scott’s mom as opposed to Theo.

Grabbing the bottle of hand sanitizer that he kept in the same side pocket as the near endless stack of fast-food napkins, Theo finished cleaning off his hands.

Liam wasn’t sure if he was bored or just desperate to avoid going back to his other responsibilities for just a little bit longer, but he found himself hesitating to pull open the handle on his driver’s side door.

Taking a breath, he turned around; the chill from the morning was gone, replaced by the gently warming rays from the sun above. There was a grassy open area just across from the picnic tables that was almost the right size for a lacrosse field; that is if anyone would bother to mow, mark, or set up goals for it.

“Theo” he called out

The chimera stopped, looking back over his shoulder in surprise, unsure of what unfinished business they still had about the zoo. He stared at the other boy, listening, waiting.

“Uh” Liam started, not sure how or if he really even _wanted_ to ask this, “so Mrs. McCall probably won’t be done at the hospital until late” he started

“yeah?” Theo answered. He was now leaning against the side of his truck, arms folded across his chest as he tried to figure out what the other youth was trying to get at

“So, this stuff isn’t really going anywhere, and like its barely even noon . . .” he continued, trailing off slightly

Theo just looked at him, eyes squinting ever so slightly as he continued to await the beta’s suggestion

“Would you maybe wanna practice some?” he finally asked, “lacrosse that is” he added

Theo pondered his offer with suspicion, “thought you didn’t want me messing up your stick” he reminded

“I don’t” Liam stated, “but I don’t care what happens to Nolan’s either” he said after a pause

“You had _another_ stick this whole time?” Theo charged incredulously

Liam merely shrugged, “you never asked”

“Urrrgggghhh” Theo groaned

\-------

Using the borrowed stick, Theo scooped up the lacrosse ball laying in the grass before him. Cradling it carefully he brought it back and flung it in Liam’s general direction, trying to emulate the countless times he had now seen it done before. This was a good bit more difficult than Scott and the others made it look.

Liam quickly moved to where he could tell the ball was headed, easily calculating the trajectory in his head; it was the kind of math he was actually good at. Despite the ball going quite off-course from the other boy’s intended target, Liam was still able to catch it mid-air, and launch it right back towards the chimera opposite him in the field.

They spent hours like this passing the ball back and forth between their nets (or at least trying to), while they ran up and down the opposing sides of the open field. The time seemed to go by differently than they were accustomed to.

Not like the eternity of a few dozen heartbeats spent waiting for the doors of a hospital elevator to open, nor with the life-or-death intensity of having but seconds to frantically find the one key of dozens that would grant your escape; but rather the all too fleeting easiness of a Sunday afternoon spent distracted from, though ever so briefly, the responsibilities of the week to come. Even if only for a few hours.

Liam could focus fully on lacrosse, leaving his worries, like the sleeping bags in the back of his truck, to wait.

Theo wasn’t the best match for him at lacrosse by any stretch of the imagination, missing far more passes than he caught; and of those not all were with the net of the stick. Liam was starting to feel worn out from all of the sprinting he was having to do to catch the chimera’s wild throws. He was also beginning to suspect that some of those might have been on purpose.

“Ow” Theo winced as yet another ball crashed into his side, as he completely missed it with his net.

“Have you tried not sucking?” Liam taunted with a cocky grin from across the grass

“Dumb sport anyway” Theo muttered under his breath. Reaching down with his stick to scoop up the ball, he gripped it hard and sent another volley in Liam’s direction. 

He stopped for minute, watching the other boy move to intercept his shot.

_What am I even still doing out here?_

“Up for another round?” Liam asked; after just barely catching Theo’s latest throw, he spun his stick in hand, keeping the ball firmly seated in the net. They had both neared the far edge of the makeshift lacrosse field.

It wasn’t exactly lacrosse proper, neither of them was trying to ferry the ball past a certain goal point to “score”; instead they had just settled for trying to keep passing the ball as many times as they could without missing between them down the length of the field.

Still, he _was_ enjoying himself; and whether he wanted to admit it or not, it wasn’t entirely on account of seeing Theo struggle.

Theo shook his head, “Think I’ve had enough for today” he called back, a tinge of bitterness clinging to his voice

Liam, though a little disappointed, nodded in acquiescence. He let the ball drop from his stick with a soft plop in front of him, rather than attempt another quick pass; much to the relief of his would-be scrimmage partner

The two walked back towards the picnic area from their respective sides; Liam occasionally scooping up the ball and half-heartedly tossing it a few yards ahead, before picking it back up again and repeating the process.

Eventually the field had turned back into gravel, and both boys found themselves angling towards the picnic table occupying their common midpoint.

They mirrored each other as they approached, both taking their seat atop the table surface rather than the bench below, laying the lacrosse sticks to rest between them like some sort of barricade.

More than a few minutes passed, as wolf and chimera alike let their breathing and heartrates return to normal. The chill had begun to return to the air as the sun began its slow descent, just now starting to graze the tops of the trees along the horizon.

“Thanks” Liam said at last, breaking the silence.

They both kept staring ahead, watching as the fading orange melted away into a rose gold sky.

“Said I’d help, didn’t I?” Theo finally replied; as capable of accepting gratitude as Liam was of being alone with his thoughts.

“So why _did_ you agree to help me?” Liam asked at last turning to look at the chimera seated next to him, “with cleaning up the zoo I mean, you could’ve just not shown up?” he continued

“would you have stopped messaging me if I hadn’t?” Theo shot back

Liam just continued to stare at him expectantly, wanting a _real_ answer, rather than his usual snark.

“I guess I didn’t really have anything better to do” Theo conceded with his best attempt at nonchalance

“and I could use the service credit” he quickly mumbled under a sigh

It was no use, Liam caught it

“since when do you care about community service?” Liam asked stunned. Sure, he knew it looked good on college apps, and obviously helping others and improving the community were nice things to do; but Theo?

Theo let out a deep breath and pulled his left pant leg up dramatically, revealing the device affixed around his ankle. A white Beacon County Department of Corrections logo shown prominently against the black military-grade plastic of the tracking device.

Liam just looked at the other boy’s leg curiously

“A little gift from local law enforcement” Theo grumbled sarcastically, “what happens after ignoring one too many unpaid parking tickets”

“They put _that_ on you for not paying a parking ticket?” Liam asked in disbelief

“Getting caught running from the cops didn’t help much” he said with a glare, “thank you for that by the way”

Liam thought back to their unexpected rendezvous when he was out running a while back, before connecting the dots and then mouthing a silent “ohhhh”

“Technically the charges were parking, vagrancy and resisting arrest” Theo corrected, “Turns out when you don’t pay them, they set a court date which if you ignore for long enough, they issue a warrant which if you also ignore” he gestured to the monitor once again “you get one of these” 

“Argent posted bail and paid off the fines, but that just means it’s up to him when I’m finished with my probation” he added

“So why the monitor?” Liam asked

“So that they’ll know if I try to ditch town” Theo replied

“What happens if you try to leave” Liam asked

“zzzt zzzt” Theo answered imitating the sound of electricity, “This place is the furthest I can go from Beacon Hills”

“Couldn’t you just full-shift and slip out of it?” Liam pondered further, “not that I’m trying to help you” he quickly added

“Thought of that” Theo began, “the monitor tracks my heart rate, among other biomarkers; that much of a change and it’d be like grabbing directly onto a bolt of lightning”

“Is it always that intense” Liam followed up, his curiosity turning slightly morbid

“Think it depends”, Theo honestly wasn’t sure, the first time he set it off wasn’t so bad, but the incident with the hunter was decidedly more painful. “Argent mentioned something about wolfsbane too”

_Not surprising_ Liam thought, recalling the vast menagerie of weapons that even the auxiliary bunker contained.

Liam chewed at his lower lip; his phone vibrated in his pocket. His mom checking to see if he would be back for dinner.

He hesitated briefly, before sending back a nonspecific _yeah_

Slowly he began to stand to his feet, the coldness from the wood below having started to set, stiffing his muscles.

“Plans?” Theo asked, watching the other boy slide his phone back into his pocket after sending his response.

“Mom wanting to know when I’ll be home for dinner” Liam answered. He leaned slightly on his lacrosse stick for support, as his foot had fallen asleep, “ _if_ I’ll be home for dinner” he corrected himself. It was just going to be the two of them tonight, his step-dad pulling another double-shift at the chronically understaffed hospital.

“Probably should be heading out myself” Theo stated, though upon checking his phone there were no messages from Argent inquiring when _he_ would be back. He knew the older man didn’t have to ask; he could pull up his location in an instant from his phone.

Even still, a faint part of him, a childlike echo of a dream he thought forgotten, dared to wonder what such a thing must feel like.

Now also rising from the table and casually resting the borrowed lacrosse stick over his left shoulder, Theo quickly caught up to where Liam had headed, settling into a casual pace as the two of them began the short walk to their awaiting vehicles.

When they finally reached the parking lot a few minutes later, Theo followed Liam right up to the back of his Bronco.

“Here” Theo offered, holding the stick out expectantly

Liam nodded and took hold of it, stashing it alongside his own in the back of his truck before closing the rear hatch.

He watched as Theo started walking back to his truck. He knew he didn’t need to say anything back. It was just a statement, not a question or a threat.

Looking down at the handle as he approached the driver’s side door, he once again found himself hesitating.

“Theo” he called out

In the falling dusk he watched as Theo turned to look at him.

“Thanks . . . for staying”

The words felt heavy as they left his lips, his stomach sank and tumbled in response.

_Why did I have to go and say something like that_

Theo paused for a moment; he could sense the tension coursing through the other boy. He nodded silently.

“Sorry I sort of suck at lacrosse” he finally added. In an instant Theo could see it in his shoulders, a small amount of that tension easing off as slightest beginnings of a smile formed at the corners of the other boy’s lips.

At that they both climbed into their trucks and drove off from the abandoned zoo.

\-------

A muffled hiss dared to escape his mouth, the chip out of his ego hurting less than the sting from the rubbing alcohol.

Melissa shook her head and finished cleaning the area around the wound, before applying a clean bandage. “You could’ve just gone to the hospital you know” she said, looking at the man seated at her kitchen table. “There are plenty of other capable nurses in Beacon Hills”

“Maybe I just prefer your bedside manner” Chris Argent smiled charmingly; one final dab from the alcohol-soaked cotton ball however quickly turned that grin into a wince.

A disbelieving “hmmpf” was her only response, as she began to return the medical supplies to the first-aid kit on the counter behind her. “Do I even _want_ to know how you got that?” she asked, referring to the gash on his side, just below his ribs that she had just patched up.

“Berserker” came the reluctant answer, as he pressed his hand into the bandage before covering it up with his shirt.

Melissa just looked at him, with the same expectant stare she used on Scott any time the other was too vague for her liking. “You went after a berserker. _Alone_?” she inquired with a raised eyebrow

“Not intentionally” he sighed in defeat, unable to resist her powers of inquisition. “I was following up a lead on some hunters from a pack north of here” he began, “when-”

“When you were ambushed” she finished, with a tone that made the conclusion seem entirely obvious.

“Yeah” Chris muttered, though he could tell from her crossed arms and unchanged facial expression that his words were still lacking. “Next time I’ll be more careful” he added

“You better” she demanded, “You’re running up quite the bill for all these after-hours emergencies”

“Am I?” Argent replied with a subtle grin, slowly leaning forward to close the distance between them

“Mmmhm” Melissa nodded emphatically, “your insurance says your recklessness is a ‘pre-existing condition’” she smirked

“Maybe I could pay you back with dinner sometime?” he asked knowingly, still leaning closer.

“Would have to be quite the dinner then” she teased, still keeping eye contact

Chris paused, briefly picturing the scene in his head, before sharing the details, “I was thinking roast lamb, with garlic and rosemary, some sauteed mushrooms, with a bottle from the family vineyard in Bordeaux”

Melissa closed her eyes, hanging onto every word he said; “I think I could tolerate that” she finally agreed with a smile

“Only tolerate?” Chris teased back before they both sought to close the last few inches between their lips.

_DING-DONG_ the doorbell rang, followed by a quick rap of a fist against the wooden door, interrupting their moment.

Argent immediately sat back, one hand reaching for the holstered weapon along his waist.

It was late.

“Were you expecting anyone?” he whispered, eyes scanning around the room for signs of red-dot sights. The memory of the last ambush here during the war not long from his memory.

Melissa McCall shook her head back and forth silently. Argent nodded, bringing a finger to his lips, he silently stood up and began to approach the door, pistol raised, careful to avoid even the slightest squeak from the floorboards below.

Another ring of the doorbell, another knock against the door.

Avoiding line-of-sight from any of the nearby windows, so as to not give away his position, Chris took his stance alongside the entrance, ready to shoot at whatever threat dared to break through the door.

“Mrs. McCall?” came the unexpected, yet instantly familiar voice from outside.

Argent breathed a sigh of relief and holstered his gun; waiting for the signal from Melissa before unlocking and opening the door.

“I uh, saw the lights on and figured someone was home” Liam nervously began to explain

“You should’ve called first” Argent advised Melissa quickly waved him off and motioned for the youth to come inside.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, “are you hurt?”

Liam shook his head, “I’m fine”, before continuing, “I, _we_ uh just wanted to bring back all of the equipment you let us borrow”

She looked at him, uncertain exactly what he was referring to, but not putting it past Scott to have offered his last shirt if it could help someone.

“The sleeping bags, we brought them back from the zoo” Liam clarified. Immediately she remembered that old box of camping equipment they had brought down the attic several months ago. It was mostly left from Scott’s dad.

“Oh, that’s, why thank you Liam. To be honest I had forgotten all about that stuff” she conceded, “you can just leave it in the garage for now if you want” she added

Liam nodded and went to collect the equipment he had stashed away in the back of his truck.

“I should give him a hand and probably call it a night” Argent said, earning a soft smile and a nod from the hardest working nurse in Beacon Hills.

“Let me get some of that” Argent called out, before accepting a few rolled up sleeping bags Scott’s first-beta handed him. “So, you went to the zoo all by yourself?” the older man asked, wary of the hunters he had tracked there earlier. “Did Scott know?”

“I can handle myself” Liam almost growled, defensively. He could sense his anger starting to rise, though he knew the older man hadn’t meant it as a challenge. “Theo helped” he added, content not to elaborate any further than he had to.

“of his own free will?” Argent asked with a laugh, as he entered the code on the side panel to raise up the door to the garage. Mrs. McCall had thoughtfully already turned the lights on from inside the house.

“I may have brought coffee” Liam confided, before stuffing a bag on the nearest shelf. Everything else fit neatly in the spare box he had brought along; using his foot he slid it inside while he watched the older man finish up.

“That sounds more believable” the bearded man chuckled as he followed his lead, placing the remaining sleeping rolls beside the ones Liam had set on the shelf ahead of him.

He looked over at the teenager standing next to him. Even in the harsh brightness from the fluorescent overhead lights in the garage, his eyes shone almost iridescent blue; the innocence they exuded only tempered with the knowledge of the angry beta werewolf caged within. It wasn’t that long ago when he would’ve seen him as an enemy, a monster needing to be destroyed, before he had finally realized what side the _real_ monsters were on.

He finished closing up the garage. The door shut, taking with it all of the artificial light from inside; now leaving only the pale silver from the moon.

“Liam” he called out

Liam turned to look at him. “Just, be careful” Argent added with a knowing look, but not elaborating further than that.

\-------

Theo liked driving, especially at night when there was hardly anyone else out on the roads. He liked the way nothing really mattered until you reached where you were going, the way you could get lost chasing the little white lines down every bend and curve. He liked that even when you did pass someone else, that’s all it was. You were observing them as much as they were observing you; on equal footing and with each regarding the other in the same way (if at all). Nice car, old car, entirely forgettable car. Who are they? Why the hurry? Why _not_ the hurry? Where are they going?

Each question fading with the accompanying motorist into the distance in the rear-view mirror.

He liked pulling up to a drive-thru just before midnight, and having to wait twenty minutes or more because he was the first person they’d seen in over an hour; even if it was for food he barely even wanted.

In these small moments he didn’t feel like an outsider trying to imitate the life he saw on the other side of a display window.

So, Theo kept driving, for a while; before _finally_ pulling over as he neared an access road. A lone streetlight stood sentinel over the dumpster behind the old power plant, its mercury-vapor bulb bathing the area in a sterile blueish-white light while the hum from the nearby active transformers drowned out the sound of its gentle buzz.

He climbed out of his truck and reached out to open the nearby dumpster, its black plastic lid clattering loudly as it fell against the back of the container; followed immediately by the irritated snarl from a raccoon inside. Theo snarled right back; some glass bottles rattled as the creature quickly scurried away.

Theo smirked at the reaction, as his eyes faded back to normal.

Walking back, he reached into the bed of his pick-up truck and heaved the large black trash-bag over his shoulder, confident the material would hold.

Just a few more steps. As he got in range of the opening, he began to carefully swing the bag back and forth, building momentum.

_A couple more swings ought to do it_ he thought

He almost had it, when there was a sudden flash of red and blue lights, flowed by the quick whoop whoop of a siren.

Theo stopped swinging the bag, letting it slow to a spin as he held it up to match his free hand.

The slam of a car door echoed all around, followed by the steady approach of a pair of boots. There was also just the slightest hint of _sulfur_?

Theo turned around slowly, immediately recognizing the hellhound deputy that was pointing a flashlight at him. “Everything alright officer?” he asked

“anything in that bag I should know about?” Parrish asked, taking a few steps closer,

“Knock yourself out” Theo offered, tossing it to the ground in front of the deputy.

Parrish reached down and briefly rifled through the black plastic with his flashlight before being satisfied it was all just trash and not parts of a body. He stepped back and motioned to let the other boy finish what he had interrupted

“You’re out a little past curfew, don’t you think?”

“Had a few detours” Theo replied, trying to brush it off. This time he threw it up with a single toss over the dumpster, the bag crashing against the rough exposed metal wall, before splitting open and falling down below. It was good enough.

“Uh, huh” Parrish replied suspiciously, glancing around at the odd locale, and then back at Theo.

Theo leaned casually against the metal container behind him, arms folded across his chest defiantly. “What’s your excuse? Get lost on patrol?” he challenged

“Not that I owe you an explanation” he started, “but I saw a vehicle of interest go past while I was waiting in a speed trap, just on the edge of town” Parrish replied, entirely unflustered by the youths attempts to get under his skin

Theo knew immediately where he had been stationed, there was a point around a curve where the speed limit suddenly dropped 10mph not that far past the turn-off for the zoo. He was sort of embarrassed he hadn’t actually noticed the lurking cruiser with a radar gun pointed out the window on his way out.

“So, what, you’re following me now?” Theo asked incredulously

“Don’t flatter yourself” the deputy dismissed, “you are someone sheriff generally wants a close eye on however”

“hmmmpf” the chimera muttered. He started to turn back towards his truck, when the other man motioned for him to stop. “What?” he groaned

“Did you hear that?” Parrish asked, cocking his head to one side

“Probably just the raccoon I chased off earlier” Theo assumed, having not heard anything particularly noticeable himself.

_Maybe hellhounds were more sensitive_ ; the thought unnerved him as he watched the focused look on the deputy’s face

_Something_ off in the woods let out a strained yowl, before Theo too felt a slight rumble in the ground below.

His heart started to race, and his vision seemed distorted as he tried to focus and steady his breathing.

While Parrish tried to listen closer, Theo quickly ran through his mental checklist.

_Where are you, and how did you get here_ , he asked himself, before just as quickly answering.

He turned his hand over, the sweat glistened as it ran off his palm; five fingers on each hand. _Good_. The letters on the Beacon Hills police car weren’t flipped or distorted either, so this probably wasn’t a dream.

“Earthquake?” Parrish finally surmised

_Earthquake_ , the rational scientific part of his brain clung immediately to the word the moment it past his ears. _Of course._

“Yeah, a small one, maybe just a tremor” he finally reacted, desperate to affirm the other’s theory

“also explains the animals reacting” Parrish added more at ease gesturing to the surrounding woods. _Animals, sure_

“Should probably get going though” Theo stated, now much more motivated to return to the safety of a supernaturally fortified bunker.

“Just get in your truck and let me give you an escort back” the deputy sighed, unamused

“Appreciate the offer, but I can find my own way thanks” Theo attempted to counter politely

“It wasn’t an offer” Parrish glared back

After entering the code to lift up the gate, Theo pulled his truck up to the shuttered garage where Argent had set-up shop. He turned off his headlights.

Leaving the engine running, he stepped out of his truck. A quick wave to the deputy behind him, before he knelt down to undo the latch to the heavy metal door in front of him.

Parrish gave a quick blip of his sirens before taking off.

_Dick_ Theo murmured to himself.

There were no lights on inside of the spartan structure as he finished raising the door, careful to minimize any unnecessary clattering. He hopped back into the driver’s seat of his truck, and ever so slowly eased it inside the garage at a gentle crawl. Finally turning off the key, he closed the truck door and started walking towards the back of the vehicle, from where he had just pulled in.

Theo felt above his head as his eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight that dared reflect in from outside. Feeling for the cloth strap, he gently began to guide the door to the garage back down along its track.

He didn’t _need_ to be quiet; the sneakiness was more just out of habit he supposed.

_“Not like anyone’s up waiting for me”_ he mused to himself as he finished bringing the door down.

At the exact moment he finished securing the latch, all of the lights inside the garage turned on; as if the locking mechanism had magically turned into a light switch.

“You’re back late” a deep voice rasped from behind him.

He sniffed the air, making out the distinctive notes of leather and disappointment.

“Bit past your bedtime too, don’t you think?” Theo snapped back as he turned to face the seasoned hunter behind him.

“Careful” Argent cautioned, holding up his phone, finger hovering over the app that controlled the device around his leg.

The chimera sighed, throwing his hands up in mock surrender briefly, before walking over to the bunker entrance the older man was leaning against.

He found a spot a few feet away along the same wall to lean against, folding his arms against his chest while they both stood there in silence.

“Thought I was doing pretty good back there” Theo replied, attempting to salvage some pride for his stealth, and break the tension. _If Parrish hadn’t flicked his sirens . . ._ the thought trailed off

“Sneaking in past curfew?” Argent scoffed, “I raised a teenage daughter”

“You never stood a chance” he added, finally looking at the boy to his right

Theo didn’t say anything, in the short time he had been with him he not to press the ‘Allison’ button; not if he wanted to live to see another day.

“So, what _were_ you doing out so late” he finally asked

“Thought you could look at all that on your phone?” Theo challenged

“I can see _where_ ; I asked _what_ ” Argent clarified

He knew there was little point in resisting, might as well just get it over with. “Liam asked me to help him clean up the zoo, from before”

“That took all day?” Argent asked suspiciously, keeping an eye on the steady data stream of the chimera’s biomarkers he had pulled up on his phone

“Something like that” Theo huffed, eager for the interrogation to be over

“Suppose you just hit a few detours on the way back then too, right?” he followed up, unimpressed

“Nailed it” Theo sarcastically congratulated him

Argent shook his head; he knew Theo wasn’t directly lying to his face, both from his vitals and what Liam had told him earlier. Still, he was hardly being forthcoming.

“I’d ask if you wanted anything to eat but-”

“not hungry” Theo muttered cutting him off

“Yeah” Argent waved him off, correctly having anticipated the other’s reaction

The two men leaned against their respective walls in untrusting silence for a few moments more, before Argent stepped out and began heading towards the entrance hatchway to the bunker below.

He stopped just short of the handle before he turned to look over his shoulder.

“I get it. Why you stay in the truck that is” he observed

“Oh really?” Theo doubted

Chris cocked his head to side as he adjusted his stance to face the chimera, “Sure, it’s familiar, it’s safe” he began, “and it also shields you from having to face what you’re really afraid of”

“And what’s that?” Theo demanded with a sense of mock sincerity

Argent shook his head, “a truck’s not a home” he concluded rather than answer directly

“And an underground bunker is?” Theo snapped back defiantly with a laugh, “you own how many properties around town and instead choose to hole up _here_?!”

“It’s _safe_ ” Argent corrected, narrowing his gaze

“Safe? You want to talk about what we’re afraid of, let’s talk!” Theo challenged

“Forget it” Argent muttered, turning around. He should’ve known better than to expect that anything he said would actually get through.

“I don’t think we’re here because it’s _safe_ ” Theo continued, undeterred. He was tired of always being the one poked and prodded like some perpetual experiment, whether physically or psychologically.

“That’s enough” Chris said with a huff

“See, I think _you’re_ afraid” Theo dared once more; he could tell he was hitting a nerve

“I said enough!” Argent ordered once more.

Theo watched as the older hunter opened the hatch that led away to the bunker below, and began to step through. He could just leave things where they were. Probably should have. That’s not what happened.

“this is the one place left, that doesn’t remind you of all the people you couldn’t protect” he finished, leveling one last charge with a smug conceded look.

The metal hatch slammed shut in response, leaving Theo to wallow in the heavy silence that followed.

He had won.

For a moment he had managed to reciprocate his torment upon the person in power over him.

His smirk didn’t last as long as he would’ve liked though; there were also truths in what Argent had said, causing his brief coup to feel pyrrhic at best, turning to ash in his mouth.

Not all victories felt good.


	3. Saturday

Chapter 3: Saturday

Liam delicately pulled his covers up, as he quietly slipped into his bed. Far more than he technically _needed_ with his supernatural metabolism; in fact, he pretty much never turned off his ceiling fan as a consequence. Feeling the weight of the blankets all around him just made it easier to sleep.

He wasn’t _that_ late in getting back home; but he was late enough that his dinner was a note on the kitchen table letting him know which shelf in the refrigerator held the leftovers, signed, as always, with a “Love, Mom” at the bottom. He wondered how long she had tried to wait up for him.

He didn’t bother to reheat the food, fearing the sound of the microwave might be too loud. While Liam could sleep through even the most ferocious of storms, his mom was the exact opposite. It was a small miracle the sound of his truck pulling in the driveway didn’t wake her.

_I’ll make it up to her later_ he thought

Laying on his back, he kept staring up at the blades of the ceiling fan above, his eyelids falling heavy as their hypnotic spinning sent him quickly off to sleep.

\-------

It felt like only minutes had passed, when the sound of his alarm from his phone so rudely pulled him from his slumber.

He was supposed to give Nolan a ride to school today too.

Mondays could just die in a fire as far as he was concerned.

Groggily he sat up, before swinging his feet off the bed and grabbing from the pile of clothes he hadn’t put away atop his dresser.

He finished his abbreviated shower, having been made aware of the time by a quick burst of cold water from someone turning the hot water on downstairs.

His heart sunk with guilt as he watched his mother’s eyes light up with excitement from over top of her coffee mug as he entered the kitchen.

“Morning kiddo” she greeted him with a smile as she continued to lean against the counter, still just in her bathrobe.

“Hey mom” he answered sheepishly, before rooting around the refrigerator for the milk.

“You were out pretty late last night?” she asked, with equal parts maternal concern and suspicious curiosity

He stopped for a moment as his hand hovered over the spot where the leftovers from last night had been placed. “Yeah, sorry I missed dinner” he apologized, turning around with the milk carton in one hand, before closing the door to the refrigerator with the other.

“It’s alright” she replied with a wave of her hand and calming smile, “I was just worried about you is all” she added

Liam smiled back, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief as he was glad to see that this wasn’t going to turn into an argument.

“The last time you were sneaking around late at night was before you had told us about Hayden” Jenna Geyer commented coyly before taking another sip of her coffee. “Did she and her family move back into town?” she asked

And just like that, the relief was gone. Liam reached for the glass of orange juice he had poured from the pitcher that was sitting out on the table.

“Or is there another girl you want to tell me about?”

“Mom!” he groaned, taking a sip of his juice

“alright” she backed down, before finding a second wind of courage from another sip of coffee, “or a boy?”

“MOM!” he coughed, as he shot orange juice out from his nose as he tried not to choke at hearing the question. It wasn’t jarring in and of itself; she thought he and Mason were dating for like a few weeks and it never bothered them. It was just that when paired with the truth of who he had just spent his weekend with, and how quick his mom was to try to read between the lines . . . it just wasn’t the kind of conversation he wanted to have right now.

“Okay, okay, forget I said anything” she replied, setting he coffee mug down, “just know that I’m always here for you if there’s ever anything, or _anyone_ , you want to talk about”

“I know” Liam said, his eyes meeting hers in unspoken love, “thanks”.

As he started wiping up what he had spilled earlier with his napkin, his phone buzzed. Nolan wondering if he was on his way yet.

Shit.

Kissing his plans of any substantial breakfast goodbye, he grabbed for his backpack that was slung over his chair. Just as his hand was about to turn the doorknob, he heard a forced cough from behind him.

“Forgetting anything?” his mom asked, before turning to stare in the direction of his lacrosse bag

Liam felt his pockets for his keys and phone, he felt the strap of his bookbag slung over his right shoulder. Out of muscle memory his hand phased emptily past his right thigh, right where his _lacrosse bag_ usually rested. He quickly rushed over to grab his missing item.

“Thanks mom” he said as he dashed back towards the door, “again” he added

Jenna rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile. _At least some things never changed_

\-------

“Hey, have you seen my stick?” Nolan asked, ending the silence that had settled in after their awkward “hey” exchange when he had first gotten in.

“I’ve been looking for it all weekend, I think I left it somewhere after practice last week but I-” he continued to ramble, before Liam mercifully cut him off

“You left it by the stands, you were gone by the time I noticed. It’s in the back” Liam explained, not taking his eyes off the road, “sorry, forgot to text you”

“No worries” his co-captain replied with an awkward laugh, “just glad you found it before Coach did”

“yeah, he would’ve been so pissed” Liam chuckled, “probably would make you do suicide runs the whole practice”

A dash of nervous laughter passed as the silence returned for the rest of the short drive to school.

Liam slowed as he approached the entrance drive to the parking lot that led behind the school towards the athletics field. Another Saturday, and yet another weekend where his friends all had plans without him. College visits mostly; which, he probably _should_ have been scheduling as well, if it weren’t for the mix of dread and panic that nearly overwhelmed him each time his counselor or parents tried to broach the subject or tossed a brochure at him. He was 17, how was he supposed to know exactly what he wanted to do for the rest of his life?

At least lacrosse made sense, at least that was something he could control. Most of the time at any rate. As he found a place to park, he noticed the parking spaces closest to the practice field were all taken; in fact, a lot of the spaces around him were taken. There were one or two food trucks, and people milling all about. What was going on?

He parted his way through the scattered people as he made his way to the locker room.

Liam threw his bag down on the bench near his locker as he saw the door to coach’s office ajar; with a firm shove he sent the door open the rest of the way and stepped inside, to see Coach behind his desk flipping frustratedly through the pages he had pinned to his clipboard.

“Hey, uh Coach?” he asked

“What is it?!” the older man shouted before looking up, he paused for a moment before appending, “Dunbar!”

“Is there something going on at the field today?” he asked, pretending he didn’t notice the time it took to recall his name

Coach stopped flipping the pages, and slammed his clipboard down on top of the mess of papers that was his desk. “Let me tell you what’s going on, on my field today” he answered, with a wild-eyed look that would have worried Liam had it not been so familiar.

“I get here this morning at the crack of dawn to start preparing the week’s drills, and some pink-hoodie wearing gestapo tells me I’m not allowed on _my_ field unless I have a ticket! _My_ field!!” he shouted, before finally taking a breath

“a ticket for what?” Liam asked

Coach nodded emphatically, taking the inquiry as validation, “That’s what I said!!” he pointed, “and you know what they told me??”

Liam shook his head back and forth

“Cheerleading tournament” Coach answered before laughing, almost maniacally, “cheerleading?!” he got out between fits

“It _is_ a pretty intense s-” Liam began to reply

“Shut up! Don’t even think about finishing that sentence in my presence!” Coach cut him off before adding a short whistle blast for affect

Liam did in fact shut-up, as the two then stood in there in awkward silence for a few seconds

“Where was I?!” Coach demanded, regaining the need to vent his outrage at his perceived injustice.

“They told you the ticket was for the cheerleading competition?” Liam answered

“exactly!” came the reluctant thanks in the form of a barely approving side-eye. “So, I brought in the big guns! I went above the athletics director; I went straight to the principal. I called her on her personal phone. Directly. On a Saturday.” he explained

“What happened?” the younger boy asked

“She had the audacity to tell me the very same thing!” Coach decried, “So you know what I told her?!”

“What did you tell her coach” Liam continued to follow along

“I told her no program brings in as much fundraising as lacrosse!” he said, taking a moment to let his pride sink in.

“and?” his only audience member prompted, growing tired of the characteristic theatrics

“We actually do about the same” came the defeated answer, “So I said” he began again, “it’s not the money, that matters, it’s the _opportunity,_ the pride and sense of purpose we give to these kids!” he declared, “I dare you to name one other program at this school that has more state titles or whose student-athletes earn more scholarships each year than ours!”

Looking over at the trophy case along the wall, he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

Liam sighed; he could tell where this was going “Let me guess, we’re about the same?”

Coach Finstock gritted his teeth while managing a tense nod, his right eye twitched like he was about to have a stroke.

“Not after the crucible of hellfire I’m going to put you slackers through this season though” he resolved, with a sense of sanity-forgoing determination.

“Forget just **one** state tournament, I’m bringing this team to **every** state tournament” Coach decreed, looking around the room at no one point in particular.

Liam rolled his eyes, knowing the conversation was pretty much over; “good plan, Coach” he said as he walked out of the office, slapping the doorframe with hand twice.

“and then . . . .then we’ll go to . . . we’ll go to MEXICO! We’ll bring lacrosse to places they’ve never even heard of!” Liam heard the erratic shouts reverberate around the locker room, followed immediately by laughter.

Shaking his head, he reached for his bag. It wasn’t like this was the _first_ time he had to find another venue. He could still remember how pissed his dad was at seeing the dings in the garage door his impromptu round of wall ball had left.

He brushed the memory aside, and shouldered his bag, the edge of his lacrosse stick jutting out from the partially open zipper.

That’s when it occurred to him.

At least the field wasn’t his _only_ option.

His thoughts turned back to last weekend, to the zoo. Nobody cared what happened out there, if he broke anything, or stayed too late. He could practice alone, or bring the whole pack for that matter. Anyone he wanted!

_Or even just with Theo_

He allowed that last thought to linger as he stood there, stopping well short of the exit door. Quickly doubling back to his locker, he pulled on the lock immediately opening it since he hadn’t moved the combination dial from before. Reaching into the back of the locker, past the spare jerseys, and his helmet, he grabbed for his old lacrosse stick.

Well, what remained of his old lacrosse stick at least. It hardly could be considered the same at this point.

Liam ran his thumb over where the head connected to the stick, thinking back to when Derek Hale had snapped it in half in this very room. He had neither the money nor the time to get a new one, but fortunately Coach had a few sticks with broken heads in the spare equipment bin from which he was able to find a mostly matching shaft.

_Was this the fourth, or fifth_ he struggled to remember how many times he had restrung the netting.

Having a werewolf for team captain didn’t help to extend its lifespan; at his old school or Beacon Hills.

At this point only the head was left from the original, itself showing signs of wear with chips in the plastic and at least one screw seeming to have gone missing.

_It’s good enough_ he thought as he placed the stick in his bag alongside the much newer one his step-dad had surprised him with on a prior birthday.

Seeing them next to each other showed quite the contrast. The new one was pure, aggressive in appearance with its professionally engineered carbon fiber shaft able to withstand the hardest of checks; his old stick, with its motley assortment of donor parts, was a barely a shadow of what it once was, the lacrosse stick equivalent of a chimera.

Liam smirked a bit at that last observation, the comparison unintentionally fitting. Now, finally departing for his parked vehicle outside, he fished his phone from his pocket and thumbed to the bottom of his contacts.

\-------

Theo grunted as he set down a particularly heavy crate in the center of the study while Argent continued unpacking one the cardboard boxes he had carried in earlier.

“Couldn’t you have hired movers or something?” he lamented, dreading the dozen or so similarly loaded containers awaiting him in the van outside.

“and risk them asking questions about all this ‘equipment’?” Argent quipped, throwing aside some of the newspaper he had used for packing material. “besides, your supernatural strength seems to be more than adequate”

“I’m _adequate_ , how nice” Theo snapped back sarcastically, as he leaned against the crate.

Chris set the picture frame he had been holding down onto his desk. It was of Allison turning away from the camera embarrassed, though still smiling mid-laugh with a stray leaf caught in her hair. They had just moved to that house, and had spent the afternoon raking the leaves in the backyard into a massive pile as they talked about the new school and boys and life; well Allison talked, he mostly just listened. It was one of the last photos he had before she learned the truth. The truth about werewolves, about their family, about all the things that would eventually destroy them.

“Get your things” Argent ordered as he looked away from the photo on the desk

Theo stared at him, confused but also a little _scared?_ His mind racing to try to stay one-step ahead of where this interaction might lead.

“Did I stutter?” Argent demanded rhetorically.

Theo shook his head, keeping his eyes on the bearded hunter he nervously began to head to his truck, as instructed

_Run_

The voice inside his head practically screamed. It’s what he was best at. Running, surviving; just different words for making it to see another day. He looked at the driver’s door handle of his truck, almost tripping himself as he walked by as he fought the urge jump in and just drive.

Instead he pulled open the door to the extended cab just behind it. He didn’t have a lot of things; a few blankets, some clothes, and a phone charger were among the few possessions that barely filled his duffel.

With no small measure of summoned courage, Theo managed to make it past the halfway unloaded van and up to the front door he had been going in and out of all morning.

Taking a deep breath, he opened it, and stepped towards his uncertain fate.

There was Argent, leaning slightly against the wall, arms folded over his chest. “Took you long enough” he muttered

Theo just stood there waiting, clinging onto the straps of his duffel bag with his right hand.

“Here” Argent said, uncrossing his arms and flinging something shiny in the chimera’s direction.

Theo reached into the air and caught the metal object with his left hand, clenching it tightly into a fist. Hesitantly taking his eyes off of the elder hunter, he turned over his hand to examine the contents.

A set of keys.

He looked back up in surprise.

“I meant what I said the other night” Argent stated soberly, “about the truck”

Theo recalled their conversation from the bunker earlier, the adrenaline easing off ever so slightly.

“You weren’t wrong with what you said either” he reluctantly conceded. They both stood there silently for a few minutes, as if adjusting to the change in gravity the meaning of those words brought.

“Anyways, there’s a guestroom at the end of the hall” Agent eventually offered

Theo nodded appreciatively and headed in that direction

“but uh, before you get too comfortable” the older man started, causing Theo to stop and look back at him expectantly

“We originally used that room to put up clients, VIPs, extended family dropping by . . . ” he continued trailing off before adding “like Kate, and Gerard”

Theo got the hint, “so it’s bugged?” he sighed, entirely unsurprised, eliciting an affirming nod from the other man

“Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer” Argent recited with a knowing stare

Theo bit his tongue and resumed course to his new quarters, he didn’t care to ask on which part of that divide he fell.

Choosing not to dwell on it, he set about the quick work of unpacking his spartan belongings.

He looked about the room for a moment; it was a fair upgrade from the improvised holding cell he had been initially offered, before Argent took him to the impound lot to recover his truck. A full-size bed, small dresser, and simple desk made up the furnishings. From his pocket, he felt a sudden buzz.

Liam.

Sitting down on the edge of the full-size bed he opened his phone to read the message

**Liam:** _you free?_

**Theo:** _Free is a relative term_

Pressing send he could almost hear the frustrated huff from the beta, the corner of his lip turning up imagining the scene.

**Liam:** _. . . ._

Theo watched as the undulating dots seemed to take forever. At the precise moment he locked his screen of course, a vibration let him know there was an update to their conversation

**Liam:** _Meet at the zoo?_

**Liam:** _Maybe practice some?_

Theo bit the inside of his cheek, he didn’t _not_ _like_ the time they spent last weekend passing the ball back and forth. Still, he could think of a few other things that topped his priority list at the current moment. The book he had recently unpacked came to mind.

**Theo:** _Can’t_

**Theo:** _Need to study_

**Liam:** _help you study, if you help me practice_

It wasn’t even 10 seconds. Theo rolled his eyes before replying

**Theo:** _Why would I agree to that?_

**Liam:** _I could teach you how not to be shit_

His determination was getting annoying, Theo thought before typing back his one-word answer

**Theo:** _No._

He set his phone down and reached for his book. Opening from the last place he bookmarked, he heard his phone buzz once more.

 _Ignore it,_ he scolded himself. He tried to, he _really tried to_ ; against his better judgment, he reached once more for his phone, eager to channel his irritation into banishing the notification alert.

**Liam:** _I’ll bring food_

Just like that, the winds of annoyance emptied from his sails. The promise of food handedly elevating the other boy’s offer to the top of his to-do list.

Finishing up settling the last of his belongings, Theo found Argent back in the study silently sorting through more personal effects from the same box he had retrieved the picture of Allison.

Theo cleared his throat as he stood in the entrance to the study, the other man immediately snapping back to the present from wherever his memories had briefly been holding him.

“You want me to finish unloading the rest of the crates from the van?” he asked, gesturing towards the heavy boxes from earlier, still stacked unevenly along the wall.

The older hunter waved his hand, “I think this is enough for one day”, to which the chimera offered no objections.

Turning from the doorway, Theo pulled his phone from his back pocket.

**Theo:** _be there in 5_

\-------

Content at finally having goaded the chimera into accepting his invitation, Liam started up his truck and began to head to the zoo.

Sure, it hadn’t been his _first_ choice, as back-up though, Liam did have to concede the zoo wasn’t exactly terrible either.

\-------

In the week it had been since he was last here, Theo had slowly come to realize that the zoo was just about perfect. A unicorn hidden just barely within the county lines of Beacon Hills.

For one, there were no people to bother him; one occasional beta with anger issues notwithstanding.

There weren’t any kids playing loudly, nor any dogs barking, nor any cops trying to mind his business.

Sure, there were plenty of other abandoned areas and buildings, mostly in the industrial area near the business district by the railroad tracks; but out here there were no cars or trains making noise, no smells of exhaust, or of sewer gasses venting from open tunnel grates below.

He reached down and tried to massage the skin pinned underneath around his ankle, his index finger barely managing to slip between the band. Stretching his leg back out, he sighed and leaned back against the rock ledge he had perched himself on, feeling the heat from the sun-warmed surface radiate through his back. He returned to his paperback, withdrawing the finger from his other hand he had been using to keep his place, while he waited for Liam.

In this distance, the rumble of an approaching vehicle sounded.

After lazily parking alongside the familiar blue Tundra, Liam turned off his truck. Grabbing his practice bag from the passenger seat, he slung it over his shoulder as he got out of the Bronco, slamming the door behind him, he started towards the zoo.

Theo was still buried in his book, not bothering to look up at the heavy approaching footsteps crunching against the gravel, nor to the forceful slam of a bag being thrown onto a nearby table immediately accompanied by the annoying tear of a Velcro strap and a hasty undoing of a zipper.

“Hey” Liam called out, “I brought you something”

“Doesn’t smell like food” Theo quipped before finally looking up from his book. _There it is_ , he smirked at the resulting eyeroll from the beta.

Setting the paperback aside, he swung his legs over the side of the ledge and leaned forward, “alright, what is it?” he asked, doing his best to mask his curiosity beneath an air of indifference.

Liam excitedly withdrew his old lacrosse stick from his practice bag, before extending it towards the chimera, “here” he offered

Theo examined it carefully, grabbing it at the base before holding it up and then allowing it to slide down his grip until he could run his fingers through the worn netting.

“I uh” he started, both surprised and somehow not surprised

“So you can practice?” Liam nudged hopefully

Theo could see the look of nervous anticipation on Liam’s face; to compare him to a puppy desperate for affirmation would have been an understatement.

“Thanks” he answered, sensing what seemed like relief

“It’s pretty banged up” Liam admitted, “Derek broke the shaft once; but I can show you how to restring the net or connect a different handle if you want sometime?” came the rambling the offer

Theo shook his head, “it’s fine Liam, thanks” he replied, turning the stick over in his hands before getting to his feet.

“So, lacrosse _then_ food, right?” he sighed as he gave in somewhat reluctantly; earning an enthusiastic, though slightly cocky, nod from Liam.

After some pointers from Liam regarding the optimal hand position, and a couple practice throws against the wall for good measure, the “just right” field opposite the tables beckoned.

Like before, the two hours they had spent passing the ball up and down the sides of the field seemed to pass faster than either of them would care to admit.

Theo _was_ a little better this time, catching more passes than he missed; still, Liam was feeling a bit worn. Judging from the sluggish trot after he motioned to head back to the picnic area, he safely assumed Theo was as well.

“Food?” Theo asked in-between breaths as he leaned back against the stone half-wall for support.

“Food” Liam nodded in confirmation, much to his relief, before setting his lacrosse stick down on top of the nearby table

Theo watched as Liam stood up from the table and began heading back to where he parked, “I’ll be back” the beta promised

“you better!” Theo threatened under his breath. As the fading taillights from the younger boy’s truck left his view, he returned to where he had left off in his book.

About forty-five minutes later Theo looked up as he heard the truck engine cut-off followed then by footsteps approaching the picnic area.

He set his book back down as he met Liam at the table where they had set their lacrosse sticks.

“Here” Liam offered, setting a large brown paper bag between them.

Theo eyed it suspiciously. Pulling one side down slightly he peered inside, a sigh of relief that the contents appeared to match the logo on the outside.

Liam huffed impatiently and moved to unpack the fast-casual bounty from within, shoving a handful of brown paper napkins and black plastic flatware at the other boy while he set out their very late lunch/early dinner.

Looking at the silver foil top with a hastily drawn cursive letter “T” in black sharpie, Theo carefully unrolled the edges.

Finally poking into the contents with his fork, he smiled approvingly from across the table. “Extra chicken bowl with guac; I’m impressed”

“I sort of panicked” Liam confessed, “Scott said you liked Chipotle, and since there’s only one in Beacon Hills I took a chance” he explained while unwrapping his burrito

Theo thought back to how many times he had found himself in that place; with Scott when he was trying to separate him from his pack, with the other chimeras when he was trying to have his own pack, and more often than not just by himself. The Dread Doctors left him largely to his own devices, so long as he delivered what they asked for. Was far more efficient to just hand him a credit card, than to exercise any culinary effort themselves; especially when they had moved beyond needing food in any traditional sense for at _least_ a century.

“They remembered my order?” he finally chuckled, between bites.

Liam nodded, “As soon as I said your name for the second one” he managed, mouth full of food, “I almost told them it was a different Theo” he added, dropping some partially chewed rice from his mouth before finally swallowing what he had been eating.

He smirked a little at the raised eyebrow shooting his way from across the table, “after she asked if you were ‘about my age but a little taller’”

Theo sighed and took another bite out of his burrito, “petty”

“Thought about changing it to just a bowl of brown rice” Liam replied smugly

“Honestly I’m just glad you didn’t come back with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in that bag” Theo admitted, “no offense to your mom’s meal prep skills from the first time we were out here”

The two of them sat there, finishing their meal in the late afternoon autumn sun. Theo started to condense his trash into the one bag.

“This wasn’t so bad” Liam noted after a couple minutes, adding his trash to the bag Theo had started; “I mean you still aren’t _good_ , but I guess you suck less” he conceded

Theo just shrugged from his perch atop the table, “can think of worse ways to spend a Saturday”

“So, you’d be up for doing this again?” Liam asked, with a doubtful look in his eye “next weekend?”

“I guess” Theo replied nonchalantly, “would I still get a burrito out of it?”

“maybe” he answered

“then I’ll think about it” Theo said.

It was the nearest to a full commitment that Liam was going to get; but it was enough.

As if there was ever any doubt, the following Saturday Liam found Theo reclining along the interior ledge of the enclosure just as before. As much as he was clearly trying to appear more interested in his book, Liam smiled a bit at seeing his old lacrosse stick leaning against the wall next to the older boy.

“Ready?” he asked, setting his practice bag onto the nearest table as he withdrew his equipment

“I guess” Theo pretended to lament, though his body language betrayed his actual internal anticipation.

Another passing afternoon, another quick run into town to bring back an early dinner.

The zoo seemed to exist in a time and place all of its own; its abandoned features finding new meaning.

For Liam it was almost a kind of sanctuary; the empty enclosures and forgotten walls providing shelter and protection from the outside, much like they did for the wild animals they used to house.

For Theo, trapped within the furthest limits of his own invisible cage, the time spent here with Liam allowed him to briefly forget his restraints.

Though it had turned into a recurring affair, each time ended exactly the same.

Each one walking back to their respective parking space, lacrosse stick at their side, sun setting on their backs. They would open the doors to their trucks, and just when it seemed that the two would depart in silence ne’er to repeat again, Liam would stop.

“Theo” he’d call out, watching as he made the other boy stop and turn, “so, next week?”

“We’ll see” Theo would say cautiously before climbing into his truck, as if he was still uncertain. As if there was any reality in which he _wouldn’t_ show up if Liam asked.

Sometimes one or the other couldn’t make it. A college visit Liam would get dragged to, or the rare lacrosse meet scheduled on a Saturday afternoon. Theo helping Argent diffuse some impending threat to Beacon Hills, or that time the sheriff had him wash and detail all the squad cars.

Other times they’d make it up later, a school night study session reviewing the battle of Antietam or Greek mythology.

The zoo had become their hideout, their secret fortress. Where others would see abandoned walls and rusted cells, they instead found escape. As if the difference between prison and freedom came down to the company.

Sure enough, exactly a week later Liam found himself walking back up to the same picnic table, burrito bag in hand.

“Like, _never_ never?” he asked, unpacking the bag and handing the foil wrapped bowl to the expecting chimera.

“Surprised Scott and Stiles didn’t try to get you to play when you were younger” he added, opening his bag of chips

Theo shook his head, “lacrosse was more ‘their’ thing”. Digging into his food he finished his bite before continuing, “I did try out once, at one of the new schools I was in” he thought back while reaching for another bite of food

“Yeah, how’d it go?” Liam asked, curiosity piqued at the almost wistful look in the sea-green eyes looking back at him.

“Didn’t get to find out, we had to move on pretty soon after” Theo explained, that quick flicker of innocence snuffed immediately right back out.

“never was into team sports really anyway” he added coldly

Liam watched as the boy across from him shuffled his fork about his bowl absently. He wasn’t sure how much of that last part was an honest confession, or if it was just Theo’s habit of pretending to cede consent to things outside his control so that he didn’t feel powerless.

They finished the rest of their food in silence, before gathering the trash and starting back for the parking lot. It wasn’t Liam’s fault he didn’t know what to say next; was he supposed to feel _sorry_ for Theo?

_Fuck him_

_Fuck him for letting him see him be vulnerable_

“Liam!” Theo called out, right as he opened the door to his truck

Pulling him out of it, Liam turned around to face the older boy

“We good for next week?” he asked, a genuine, almost sincere smile crossed his face as Liam nodded in reply “Yeah” he added

_Fuck him for that too_


	4. Rage

Chapter 4: Rage

Liam grabbed his lunch and took his seat on the bleachers outside next to Mason and Corey, Nolan followed closely behind; almost nobody except underclassmen ate lunch _inside_ the cafeteria.

“You guys see the new schedule Coach put up this week?” Nolan asked

Corey nodded, he started to respond, mouth still full of food, but a soft hand and glare from his boyfriend told him better.

“He changed it _again_?” Liam asked in disbelief, he knew Coach was trying to get them into as many tournaments as there were left in the season, but this was getting ridiculous.

“let me guess, another Saturday game too probably?” he groaned

Nolan nodded sadly, confirming their weekend was to indeed be abbreviated on account of Coach’s machinations of glory.

“Who’re we playing?”

“Devenford Prep” Mason answered, watching his best friend closely given how sensitive the topic was

The can of soda Liam had been holding in his right can, was almost instantly reduced to aluminum slivers, the foamy sugary contents within now dripping down his clenched hand.

“You alright?” Corey asked, looking quickly to Mason and then back at his pack-mate worriedly

“I’m fine, I’ll be fine” Liam answered, slowly, quiet but determined. He felt Mason’s hand rest gently on his shoulder

“You sure?” he asked, looking down at the remains of the can and the quickly healing cuts in his friends’ hand

“We could tell Coach to put us in a different tournament” Corey offered

“or maybe I could cover? You could sit it out?” Nolan tried weakly

Liam shook his head before re-opening his eyes; the yellow flash lasting but a brief flicker, before returning to bright blue. Brushing off Mason’s hand with an appreciative squeeze he reiterated, “I’m fine, really it’s just another game”

“You’re absolutely sure?” Mason asked again, eyes still laden with concern

“I’ll be fine” Liam assured, as much for his own sake as for those around him

“Anyone take that AP chem exam yet?” he asked, eager to switch topics. The group immediately turned into Corey talking about the harder questions while Mason pulled out his notes to share with the rest.

\-------

The rest of the week passed by far too quickly for Liam’s liking. What had seemed like a faraway nuisance on Monday was now an imminent freight train barreling his way. The Stiles approach was definitely not working.

“Alright, huddle up!” Coach ordered with an enthusiastic whistle blast, bringing a close to their extended after-school practice.

Liam and Nolan corralled their teammates into a circle around the coach; everyone, human and supernatural alike, grateful for the end of this particularly grueling session.

Coach looked around him, the chorus of panting from the tired, sweat drenched youths finally satisfying his almost sadistic drive to keep pushing them harder and harder in the leadup to the big game.

“Now I think all of you know how important this weekend’s game is, right?” he asked

The exhausted series of nods and “mmms” that responded turned an unamused expression into a dour frown.

“What was that?!” hey yelled

“Yes Coach!” they team shouted back with coerced enthusiasm, eliciting a grin from their wannabe drill sergeant

“Now that’s more like it!” he affirmed with a fist pump for good measure. “As some of you may know, this weekend’s game also happens to fall on our senior appreciation night”

He paused for a moment, seeing a handful of helmeted faces nod in response. “And while we appreciate all of you to whom that applies, let it serve as even more of an excuse to get out there and win!”

A cheer went out from around the huddled group

Pulling a large manilla folder from what only could’ve been his rear waistband underneath his jacket, he began to pull out a wad of envelopes with names written on the outside. “I’ve taken the liberty of acquiring tickets for all of your parents too” he added, “so as much as I know you love your Coach, maybe the extra parental encouragement should keep you slackers motivated” he finished with a toothy smile

“Holloway!” he shouted, hopelessly trying to recognize his ½ captain from the dozen or so other faces around him

Liam sighed as he tried to keep his eyes off his shoes. _Why did it have to be **this** weekend?_ he thought

“Dunbar!” Coach called out again, waving a white envelope with two tickets inside frantically in the air as he looked about for his other ½ captain

Liam walked up and grabbed the enveloped out of his hand, not saying a word as he headed to the locker room to get his things.

\-------

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Liam made his way downstairs to the kitchen table. His mom had just finished setting out the assorted take-out cartons from the Chinese they had ordered. His step-dad was supposed to have been home by now; but when two ambulances rushing from the scene of nearby accident nearly overwhelmed the small emergency room, he immediately stepped in to help the novice attending physician see to the patients. 

Jenna Geyer wasn’t upset, quite the contrary, his selflessness that at times bordered on reckless was one of the qualities she admired most about him.

She was more concerned about him neglecting his sleep; and maybe also the relationship with her son.

Taking his seat and quickly shoveling pork fried rice and lo-mein onto his plate, Liam tried to just enjoy dinner with his mom.

Watching her son wolf down his food, Jenna waited for him to come up for air before trying to start a conversation.

“How was school?” she asked, finally finding her moment

“Fine” came the one-word reply, in typical Liam fashion

“Practice go okay? You guys have been staying extra every night this week” she followed up, hoping perhaps lacrosse might get him to open up a bit.

“It’s not too bad, just Coach getting us ready for the game this weekend” Liam said, reaching for his glass of water

“Another weekend game? Seems like a lot more of those than last season” his mom observed, scooping some more cashew chicken up for herself

Liam nodded back, mouth full of eggroll, “trying to qualify for more tournaments” he explained before taking another bite, though almost immediately regretting being so forthcoming upon seeing the look of regret on his mother’s face

“I’m sorry kiddo, you know we’d be there if we didn’t have to fly out to Boston for that medical conference. Dr. Geyer’s leading the panel” she apologized, as she thought some more, “I could always try and refund my plane ticket, so at least one of us would be there?” she offered

Liam shook his head, “don’t worry about it, it’s fine” he said downplaying the match

“You sure, it sounds pretty important? It’d be no trouble really” she insisted, genuinely feeling guilty over missing her son’s game

“It’s nothing, just a normal game, Saturday worked better for the other team is all” Liam lied with a disarming smile.

He got the intended result, the worry and guilt seeming to have departed from his mother, her face and overall posture seeming to have breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside hoverer he felt worse for it, sick to his already unsettled stomach, dirty even; like he had just smoked an entire carton of cigarettes while kicking a puppy.

 _How does Theo make this look so easy?_ he thought to himself

“So you’re still up for helping me pack?” Jenna asked with a wink and a grin. It was something they always did together whenever she had to go out of town. Somehow it made it just a bit less hard to say goodbye, when they each had a part in the packing.

“Sure mom” Liam replied, doing his best to put on a smile. It still felt saccharine to him, even if he was positive that she bought into it completely.

He didn’t make any mention of the tickets still tucked away in his lacrosse bag. What was the point?

\-------

Friday at school passed by in the blink of an eye. Liam hardly said a word outside of what he had to for class, and the occasional wave or “hey” to friends and teammates that he passed in the hall. He skipped lunch entirely, texting Mason to let him know he was getting an extra workout session in.

Though the weights did little to soothe his anxiety and anger.

Coach had intentionally cancelled practice for today, ordering each of them to make sure they were well rested and to “not do anything Coach wouldn’t do” before Saturday’s game.

His last period was a study hall, which being a senior meant he could leave early. Leaving early in this case however, translated to sitting in his car in the parking lot and failing in his efforts to stop the vicious circles going on inside his head.

The final bell sounded, snapping him out of his thoughts; and as the doors opened and students began to head into the parking lot or awaiting busses, Liam turned the key in the ignition.

He knew where to go. Where he could get clear.

_The zoo_

\-------

Theo sat in his truck in the parking lot looking out at the groups of people walking about all around the old farm on the outskirts of town. How the scraggly old farmer got these teenagers to not just agree to wander into his maze, but _pay actual money_ to do so was unbelievable. Didn’t matter if it was just a bunch of corn, he still didn’t trust it.

Though he did have to reluctantly concede there wasn’t anything or anyone here that set off his supernatural radar, nor were any telltale signs of hunters.

_This isn’t a mission_ he tried to remind himself, trying to decide if anything here might actually be worth his time. Argent had given him the night off, sort of.

He was having guest over for dinner. _Melissa McCall?_ Theo had asked playfully, earning slightly perturbed glare but neither a confirmation nor denial; only orders that he find somewhere else to be tonight until Argent messaged him otherwise.

Hearing a buzzing sound from his cup-holder Theo thought that might be the long awaited signal that his exile had ended.

Reaching for his phone, he looked at the screen.

There was no need to unlock it, the message preview being more than enough to show the single word

**Liam** – 8:10pm

_zoo?_

Theo started his truck, tires spinning loose gravel as he gave it a bit too much gas pulling out of the lot.

_The zoo it is then_

\-------

It had been dark for a while now. While the moon providing a dim light, it lacked any of the warmth from its diurnal counterpart. The cold of the autumn night didn’t bother the beta however, having long stripped down to just his white long sleeve tee shirt rolled up to his arms. The relentless pace with which he kept chasing and throwing the lacrosse ball providing an ample supply of heat, though just barely managing to burn off his frustration.

Liam had moved from using the wall as a practice target, to the cages; reluctantly, but he had grown tired of having to run out into the dark field to find the ball on the shots he missed.

He paused for a moment as he saw two headlight beams cross over the entrance to the zoo, casting shadows out of the metal animal cutouts above the sign.

Theo stepped out his truck and into the cool dark; Liam’s message hadn’t been very specific. Sure, he had a location, but there was no indication of a plan (not that one was really ever required for their rendezvous’). Not immediately scenting blood or hearing cries, supernatural or otherwise, he decided this likely wasn’t any sort of emergency.

 _Still_ , he thought reaching behind his seat, _the lacrosse stick would work for either occasion_

Following the cocktail of chemo signals up the winding path past the zoo entrance, Theo found Liam standing at the entrance to one of the longest cages with a pile of lacrosse balls near his feet. He watched for a bit as the other boy swung repeatedly, launching each one into the back of the cage with particular ferocity, depleting the cluster almost instantly.

“Hey” Theo called out as he carefully approached the cage, “got your message”

“Oh” Liam mumbled, using the net of his stick to scoop the returning balls back into a less scattered pile.

He _had_ texted Theo, about the time he got tired of chasing after the balls down the field; about the time he started to feel that doing this solo wasn’t helping.

“Everything alright?” Theo asked, now standing just outside the gate to the cage, weaving his fingers through the metal linkages.

“Fine” came the one-word answer. Liam still hadn’t turned to face him, instead keeping his concentration on the task in front of him.

“Uh huh” Theo scoffed doubtfully. Of the many emotions he had elicited out of Liam Dunbar from all their prior meetings here, this wasn’t one of them. A far cry from the blue-eyed optimism of a care-free afternoon, the mild resentment from their first encounter, or especially the soothed calm that seemed to exist so briefly just towards the end of their hang-outs.

“Need any help?” the chimera volunteered, watching the beta make his way once more through the pile of lacrosse balls, “guessing that’s why you asked me here, right?”

Liam paused his throws, “could use a goalie” he said catching his breath. He still wasn’t looking at the chimera, Theo could see what was going on with his eyes, like they were somehow just constantly on the precipice of shifting between wolf and human. For a second the glow would seem like it was winning, causing him to yield to the beast, before just as quickly being brought back to heel.

Cautiously, Theo stepped into the cage with his stick in his right hand. “Important game then?” he asked, taking up position at the back of the cage.

Liam half nodded, half cracked his neck before scooping up a ball from the pile and tossing at him.

“Kinda” he admitted. Finally. To someone.

Theo managed to catch the throw, feeling the force reverberate all down the handle of his stick.

He tossed it back with a low pass, “they any good?” he asked

Liam let the ball roll beside him, scooping up a different one and shooting just above the other boy’s head.

Theo ducked just in time, there was no way he was catching that one. He noted the warping sound the metal along the back of the cage made in reaction to the ball. There was some force on that throw, _a lot of force_.

“my old school” Liam finally shot back, sending another ball in the chimera’s direction. Theo moved to catch it, but ended up blocking instead, the hard, white lump of rubber crashing against his stick and drawing blood from the knuckle unlucky enough to get caught by it. He felt the shaft bow slightly at the impact as he winced a little from the hit.

“ah” he remarked, adjusting his grip on the stick to counter for the blow, “Brett’s team” he recalled, thinking back to the conversation between Scott and Liam when they were all trapped at the police station.

_This was supposed to be helping_

There was something almost dreamlike in the way the cold moonlight caught the shape of the other boy standing opposite him at the other end, the shadows of the bars blurring all but the most distinguishing features. Not that that was anything much to go on, for he had spent a lifetime blending in, being what others wanted to see, what they _needed_ to see so he could carry out his mission.

Right now, he was just a shadow trapped at the back of a cage.

Liam shot the ball again, this time his fangs bared and his claws dug into the carbon fiber shaft of his stick as his mind flashed to the Anuk-Ite. To Brett. To Devenford Prep.

To when _he_ was at the back of the cage.

The blow landed squarely in the chimera’s gut. Once again there was no blocking that shot, the force of which quite nearly knocked the wind out of the older boy. Theo fell back on side, bracing himself against the bars for support. “What the hell Liam?!” he shouted, taking a moment to collect his breath

Another ball. A complete miss, but another throw just the same.

“Really?!” the chimera exclaimed

Liam stood there as the ball rolled back his way. Now the light caught his opponent completely, glinting off the metal brackets near the head of the lacrosse stick, his supernatural senses picking up the traces of blood from the earlier wound. It was just like his memory, just like his nightmare; except this time, _he_ was the one inflicting the pain.

The reversal should have been a moment of pure empathy, but instead he found only more anguish waiting to pour out from within; as if he could somehow vanquish the demons of the past and present here together all at once in this moment.

“We’re done here” Theo stated bitterly before standing up and beginning to walk towards the exit to the cage where Liam was standing

“That’s it?!” Liam growled back, not inching one step back from his position blocking the only exit

Theo just looked at him, “Yeah, that’s it” he sneered turning away.

The beast refused to be calmed, the hollow victory ceded by the chimera tasted bitter and unsatiating. Still baring his fangs and with flickering eyes, Liam sidestepped to block Theo’s exit.

In a dance of dominance, the two shuffled steps around the other briefly, before the chimera stopped. “What is your problem tonight?!” he demanded, throwing his lacrosse stick to the ground.

Liam dug his claws deeper into his stick as he kept his gaze on Theo, each breath sounding more like the pants of a caged animal.

“If you’re not gonna talk to me, then at least don’t stand in my way!” Theo shouted, giving a shove to Liam’s shoulders with his now free hands sending the other a few steps back.

Liam kept staring into Theo’s unflinching gaze; how could he see Liam as he was right now and seem so . . so cold? So calm? Even though anger and hurt and betrayal were coursing through his veins he still was able to look at him as he always had. Mostly.

The _ache_ for that kind of control only infuriated Liam more.

“I didn’t come here to be your target practice” Theo huffed angrily as he started past the bars

“So, you don’t care what happens then? just gonna run away? Why did you really come out here?!” Liam countered, letting his stick swing down to his side

Turning so he could face the enraged beta Theo paused, “thought I was meeting a friend, someone I cared about” came the cold reply.

“but I guess they don’t feel the same way” he added as he turned back around

Liam’s fang sliced the inside of his bottom lip as he tried to avoid biting his tongue

“like you really care!” he challenged, but Theo just kept walking.

“you were never going to be in Scott’s pack!”

Theo stopped in his tracks at the barb.

He _knew_ better, knew this wasn’t worth the fight. Knew that Liam wasn’t himself right now. Knew that a better friend should try to stay.

But that’s not what came out

_“This is why they kicked you out”_ he muttered silently to himself under his breath as he continued walking towards the parking area.

Liam, against all probability given how low the words were uttered, had in fact caught what Theo said.

The intended audience or intent was irrelevant to the now raging temper.

With a fearsome roar, he channeled that anger into the white rubber sphere in front of his feet as he swung his stick with such force that the ball rapidly approached the upper-limits of subsonic speed

That’s when it happened.

The shot heard around the world. Well, at least the _zoo_.

When the smoldering frustration of a beta werewolf, struck like a bolt of lightning to ignite the repressed emotional rage of a chimera who had just lost his final straw.

As if time itself had slowed to watch the spark descend upon the awaiting powder keg, the ball sailed on a direct trajectory towards Theo; taking some of Liam’s discharged anger along with it.

Liam’s glowing eyes followed as the white sphere finished its arc with a solid THUD into the back of Theo’s shoulder.

Theo stopped walking. Liam couldn’t see what face the other boy was making, but he _knew_.

Part of him gloated at hitting his mark, savoring the trace of satisfaction at returning the pain of those words physically; but part him also knew there was no fallout shelter from what he had just detonated.

Theo just stood there, his back towards the beta.

Finally turning around, he knelt down and retrieved the ball laying in the dirt before him.

Liam could practically see steam rising off of him; focusing his stare on the other boy, he threw his stick down to ground beside him.

Theo’s eyes almost seemed to glow with an orange hue, their normally bright yellow taking in the red from the surrounding blood vessels and his flushed cheeks. Not yet baring his fangs, he clenched the offending lacrosse ball in his left hand as he stared at Liam.

Liam watched as his knuckles turned white, and claws started to emerge in a slow controlled fashion from his fingertips as he squeezed it tighter, and tighter.

The outer layer of the ball gave way and Theo’s razor-like claws tore downward into the rubber core and then past, through the other edge, sinking into the palm of his hand and causing rivulets of blood to run over the white exposed surface.

Liam watched as Theo released his grip and what once was a lacrosse ball fell to the ground, nearly completely cleaved in half save for a few scarlet shreds of rubber that were only barely holding it together.

_Good_ he thought, gritting his teeth, _Fight me!_

Theo cocked his head to one side, not caring to brush aside the hair that fell down in response.

He relaxed his gaze as a dark, unsettling smirk spread across his lips.

_“Run”_

Liam’s eyes burned yellow, his claws and fangs fully out, as he roared and instead charged straight for the pissed off chimera. _He was getting his fight_

The resulting “fight” lasted scarcely a minute; Liam went from seeing red to seeing black, to now where he was rubbing his temple in an attempt to massage away the headache as he leaned back against the cage wall behind him.

“Are we done?” Liam groaned

“Are you going to stop hitting me with lacrosse equipment?” Theo countered, from where he was standing opposite him

Liam just shrugged, “I guess” he muttered

“Then we’re done” Theo agreed as he moved to sit down next to Liam, “though was all that really necessary?”

Liam shrugged

They had been sitting there for some time, neither yet daring to break the safety of the fragile stillness that had descended. The world itself seemed to respect the sanctity of this armistice of silence; no messages or missed calls, no airplanes passing overhead, nor any hunters stalking in the distance.

Theo turned to his left, watching the clouds of breath Liam puffed under the moonlight into the cold air. He could have left if he wanted; Liam’s eyes weren’t glowing and he wasn’t threatening anyone. Still he stayed, willing to indulge his concern for the other at least one more time.

There was something in the look on the other boy’s face. Normally Liam was always the first to break a silence, but this time Theo took the initiative.

“So, anything you want to talk about?” he tried, hating the sound the words made the instant they reached his ears

Liam huffed. He could have left at any time he wanted now too. At least until Theo started talking.

“Your ankle-monitor” he answered after a few moments

“What about it?” the chimera replied quizzically; _not the direction I had in mind, but okay_

“Why didn’t it trigger with the lacrosse ball earlier?” Liam asked again, “or during the fight?”

“Because a partial shift is easier to control” he explained, indulging the frustrated look of determined curiosity in the other’s eyes

Liam looked away; he _wished_ he had that kind of control

Theo could sense the tension building again inside the boy seated next to him. “Alright, my turn” he started, “what’s really going on with you?”

Liam still hadn’t turned to look at him

“This can’t all just be about a lacrosse game Liam” Theo insisted more firmly

There was a deep sigh, “sort of?” he confessed, as the chimera did his best to not seem offended

“Is it because it’s against your old school? Because of your rivalry with Brett?” Theo tried, attempting to get to the root of what was going on right now between them

“Yes . . . but also no, but kind of? It’s more than that” Liam replied, only succeeding in somehow confusing himself **and** Theo even more. “It’s seniors’ night where they sort of celebrate us getting to move on, and everyone’s parents are supposed to be there, but mom and Dr. Geyer are out of town and . . .”

Theo held his tongue, and as Liam tried to sort his thoughts and feelings into words, the pressure of the silence began to do its work

“It’s the first game against his team since he died” the cascade began to flow, “and yeah he was an absolute dick to me most of the time, but it was more complicated than that”

“Go on” Theo urged calmly

“It’s why I’ve avoided the cages here up until tonight” Liam confessed at last. Theo said nothing, but kept his eyes on Liam

“When we were here before, with the Anuk-Ite and the hunters . . . for a moment I was back at my old school”

“Like a vision?” Theo asked

The other boy shook his head, “Like a nightmare I was reliving, except I was awake”

The chimera’s pupils widened slightly at how intimately familiar he was with the experience, “what happened?”

“It was after a game” began the answer, “I was trying to prove myself, trying to prove everyone else wrong. Instead I let everyone down”

Theo waited for him to continue

“Brett and some of the others took turns shooting lacrosse balls at me, telling me I didn’t belong and wasn’t good enough, that everything was my fault” Liam followed

“and then?” Theo prompted, seeing what he thought might have been a tear start to form at the edge of the other’s eye

“Then I got him killed” came the cold answer, before the chimera could shake his head and respond with “pretty sure that was Monroe, not that you didn’t almost get _yourself_ killed trying to stop her”

Liam brushed aside the other’s attempts to diffuse his self-ascribed guilt, “I failed either way” he sighed. “my step-dad’s never home, my biological dad still calls sometimes and my mom tries to pretend that everything’s okay when it isn’t, and all my friends are excited about leaving for college and all I can think about is that the pack is splitting up and there’s nothing I can do”

“You think _you’re_ responsible for all that?” Theo asked in disbelief

“I think that I can’t control it” Liam corrected

“what about how you _feel_?” Theo prodded further

Finally meeting Theo’s eyes with his own Liam was doing everything he could to hold back the tears

“Angry” he answered, “like I just want to hurt something, anything, even if it might be you” he nearly choked on the words, as he watched Theo look away at his confession

“Here, let me help” Theo offered, holding out his hand towards Liam’s wrist.

Liam wasn’t sure what he was going for, but sucking in his lower lip he extended out his arm.

Theo took hold of it forcefully, though a bit uncertain; he had done this before, with Gabe at the hospital. Pain was pain, right?

A small trickle of flashed over Liam’s skin; both of them watched uncertainly as instead of black, the veins pulsed a bright red as they up ran over to Theo’s arm, the latter finally getting a sense of what the other was feeling.

Liam stared as the expression on the chimera’s face changed, the edge of his lip flared up. Then Theo closed his eyes and shook his head back before opening them once more.

“That’s not anger”

Liam began to snarl at the correction; _how dare he pretend to know what I’m feeling_ he thought

“it’s rage” Theo finished, his lip turned back down as his eyes drifted out of focus, like he was staring at a point a thousand meters away

“What’s the difference?” Liam questioned, now more confused than insulted

“Anger” came the beginnings of an answer, “anger is wanting to start a fight”

“and rage?” Liam followed, still not seeing the contrast.

“rage is not caring who finishes it” Theo explained

“It chokes out every other emotion until there’s nothing left. Nothing but the need to make someone else feel the same hurt you feel, the same pain you can’t stop, even if it kills you” he continued on, still not looking at Liam.

He _couldn’t_ look at him, couldn’t look into his eyes, couldn’t risk _feeling_ himself.

This was like trying to balance on the edge of a razor. Give in too much? Shut out too little? Anything less than total control of the moment and they’d **both** get cut wide open.

Liam could feel his tension and frustration ebb slightly as more and more of the crimson lines swirled up Theo’s forearm.

“In the cage back there, that was like what happened with Brett, right?” Theo asked; he didn’t need to look over, he could feel the surge of emotion flowing from the other boy.

Liam felt his cheeks wet as a few tears streamed their way down, enough of his rage having been siphoned to let a trickle of remorse break through; “except this time I was him”

Theo held his grip firmly, taking a deep breath he tried to keep his focus. “The worst kind of nightmare is waking up and finding yourself on the other side, seeing that you’re the monster” he said, thinking back to his memories of Tara.

“How do you fix it?” Liam begged, “how do you _control_ it?”

At that, Theo finally turned to look Liam in the eyes, before jerking his hand away and releasing his hold on him, instantly severing their connection.

The way the moonlight reflected back in those tearful bright blue eyes affected something in him. In a different time, he would have taken full advantage of such raw desperation, but right now he just wanted him to not hurt.

“It’s not about control” Theo said as he leaned back into the wall of the cage and took a deep breath, “it’s about balance”

The look on Liam’s face told him his advice wasn’t helping the way he had intended. So instead he decided to take a chance. “I know it’s different, but when I was younger my parents fought too” he began, “see, dad was a mean drunk; think that’s part of why I spent so many nights over with Scott and Stiles” he added as a too-quickly passing smile at the fond memory left his face

“You can imagine, things didn’t get better after Tara” he trailed off

“Okay, why are you telling me this?” Liam finally asked, wary of the uncharacteristic openness the chimera was displaying

“Because _every_ decision I made after that point was about me trying to fight what I thought I couldn’t control” he replied, “working with the Dread Doctors? trying to steal Scott’s pack? trying to resurrect my own pack? Every step that much closer to my own destruction”

“I’ve been where you are right now Liam, maybe not _exactly_ the same but I know the kinds of decisions you’re willing to make when you feel powerless” Theo cautioned

“I’m nothing like you!” Liam snapped defensively

“Maybe not” the chimera acknowledged with a pause.

“I don’t need you to not hate me Liam” he began again, “but at least don’t make the mistakes I did”

A silence fell between them as they both reflected on the words that passed between them.

“So, what do I do?” Liam asked. Not a demand, nor desperate plea, but a soft sincere cry for help.

Theo looked him in the eyes once more, “you have to let the other emotions in” he replied just as softly “let go of what you _can’t_ control, and focus on what you _can_ ”

“But how?” he wondered, thinking to all the times he was inches away from hurting someone else, someone he cared about

“Cages work both ways Liam” the low raspy voice next to him replied, “sometimes it’s those inside that need protected the most; maybe what you think is a prison is really a fortress”

“and my anger, my _rage_?” he followed, still uncertain

Theo thought for a moment “you can’t control what you feel Liam, but you can control how you act on it, how you direct it”

They both sat there in the solace of the night’s quiet embrace as the last of the crickets continued their ending chorus.

Liam bit the inside of his lip and turned his hand over on the concrete between them, opening his palm. “Can you do that thing again? Take the pain, the _rage_?” he asked looking over at the boy to his right

Theo looked at him hesitantly, “You know it won’t fix it?” he cautioned

“I know” came the response as Liam looked into his weary sea-green eyes

Theo nodded quietly and met his hand with Liam’s, setting his palm over the other’s and letting their fingers fall between each other’s.

Small red rivulets ran down Liam’s forearm over the top of Theo’s intertwined hand.

As a calm settled over them, nestled away in the shadows of their own private zoo; Theo felt something new, something different this time. Glancing down at the red veins crisscrossing their hands, he closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

_This wasn’t just rage_

\-------

Theo leaned back against the wall alongside his bed, the afternoon sun pouring through the window over the pages of the book he held in his lap. A set of low footsteps echoed through the hall as they drew closer before stopping outside his door.

He kept his eyes on the words in front of him when the handle turned and the door opened. No knock of course; there never was.

Argent walked casually into the room, a small duffel slung over his shoulder, before stopping a few feet opposite the bed.

“Thought you’d have left by now?” he remarked with a raised eyebrow in the direction of the lacrosse stick leaning up in the nearby corner.

“plans change” the chimera replied, still not looking up at the man across from him.

The elder hunter laid his bag down onto the floor as he dragged the wooden chair around from the desk behind him.

Sitting down, he folded his arms across his chest and waited.

After sufficient time had passed to make it clear Argent wasn’t leaving anytime soon, Theo huffed dramatically and set his book aside. “What?” he asked, finally looking up at him

“Everything alright?” came the concerned inquiry.

If he didn’t know better, he would’ve almost classed it as sounding paternal. “Peachy” Theo deadpanned, all the while not breaking eye contact.

“So, no objections to a quick road trip then?” Argent posed

“Do I have a choice?” the chimera half-asked

“There’s always a choice” the hunter replied calmly, getting up from his seat and picking up his bag.

He stopped right as he was about to pass through the doorway, “We’re taking your truck” he called out

Theo threw his head back and let out a groan, before hopping off the bed and following him to the garage.

\-------

Theo had long lost track of where they were, the older man driving seemed intent on going entirely by backroad; _wherever_ that ended up being. How he was navigating all this without gps was a confounding mystery to the chimera trapped in the passenger seat. That or Argent was just too stubborn to admit they were lost.

He leaned his head against the window and stared into the side mirror, watching the leaves swirl behind them in the wake of the truck.

Cell service stopped a few miles back, so the scenery and his thoughts were all he had now. Any other Saturday, and this would be about the point Liam would ask him if he was getting tired. Then he’d lie, shake his head and do his best to keep up for the next hour or two until Liam finally decided it was time to get food.

The sudden stopping of the truck as it pulled into the gravel lot jolted him back to the present as Argent shut-off the engine.

“Wait here” he instructed, earning a nod from the still buckled chimera

Argent got out of the truck, leaving the keys plainly visible still hanging in the ignition. He looked over his shoulder briefly to see Theo still staring vacantly out the passenger window, before he pushed the turnstile revolving door at the entrance to the modified airstream trailer.

About 30 minutes later he emerged from the makeshift diner, a takeout bag in his right hand. He let a smile break through at seeing the truck still sitting in the parking lot. _Maybe Scott was right_

Opening the driver’s door, he found the keys still in the ignition, untouched from where he had left them; in the passenger seat Theo had dozed off, pulling off his hoodie and placing it between his head and the window as a pillow. Saying nothing, Argent started the truck once more and pulled out of the gravel lot, leaving the half-lit neon sign behind them.

“We’re here” came the gruff words that roused Theo from his fleeting slumber. He rubbed his eyes and undid his seatbelt, as Argent slammed the driver’s door shut as he climbed out of the truck.

Stretching his legs as he walked out to join the older hunter, the chimera looked around.

 _Seems unassuming enough_ he thought to himself, though he knew with Argent it seldom was.

Before him was what appeared to be a hunting lodge on the edge of a small pond, nestled deep into the wooded hills of wherever Argent had taken him. A few meters away stood a matching boat-house, a wooden table sat equidistant between them.

“ _Where_ exactly are we?” Theo asked as he joined the older man sitting atop the table.

Argent reached into the bag and pulled out a tray with two plastic cups, straws already poking out, the maraschino cherries dribbling red streaks over top of the whipped cream protruding from the tops.

“old family cabin” he answered, extending one of the cups to the boy seated next to him.

Theo eyed it suspiciously

“It’s just a milkshake Theo; hope you’re okay with cookies & cream” he offered again disarmingly.

Theo accepted it cautiously with one hand, waiting until the hunter sipped first before trying it himself.

“You drove all the way out here and waited that long just to get a _milkshake_?” the chimera scoffed doubtfully

“It’s a _damn_ good milkshake!” Argent countered defensively, before taking a bite from the cookie they had placed in the cup.

He wanted to say something snarky in reply, take a shot at the old man for his softness for the dairy dessert; but he held back.

 _It was a damn good milkshake_ he conceded to himself with another sip

The two sat in silence for a few moments, each sipping from their respective cups and watching the afternoon sun reflect off the water.

“Used to bring Allison up here when she’d let me” Chris said, finally breaking the quiet

“hunting practice?” Theo assumed, himself now finding the cookie hidden in his shake

Argent shook his head “fishing trips.”

He swallowed his sip, “pretty sure she only agreed to come because she knew I’d buy us milkshakes on the way home” he finished with a laugh, “but only if she promised not to tell her mother”

“later it became more about the hunting” came the somber finish

Theo didn’t say anything, the man had gotten a little less cryptic since they moved into the old house, but he still was always mindful to tread carefully.

“always the cookies & cream though” he continued recounting and staring out at the water, finishing what was left at the bottom of the cup with a loud slurp before setting it down on the table. “odd combination at first, it starts out neatly black and white but by the time you get to the bottom everything’s just grey” he mused

Theo set his cup down, “we still talking about milkshakes?” he remarked

“Why didn’t you take the truck?” Argent asked dispensing with the metaphors and getting straight to the inquisition, “when I was in the diner, I know you watched me leave the keys in the ignition”

Theo jerked up his pant leg just enough to show the monitor that was still attached, “risk getting another 100,000 volts? Pass!” he snorted

Argent shook his head, “you and I _both_ know we passed Beacon Hills miles ago” he accused, not taking his eyes from the chimera to his right

“You might’ve just turned it off” came the counter argument

Argent just chuckled to himself and shook his head

“Something funny?” Theo demanded,

“Surprised you hadn’t figured it out by now” the bearded man practically spat out in surprise

“Figur-” Theo stopped, his mind working faster than his tongue. The realization hitting him like a bucket of ice-water.

“It’s been off for a while now hasn’t it?” he growled rhetorically

“Mostly” Argent corrected, “the shock part yeah, takes quite the charge to supply that kind of power” he explained

Made enough sense, Theo _had_ wondered how such a small device had never needed to recharge. “and the wolfsbane?”

“Empty ‘motivation’ ” he answered, earning another snarl from the chimera at the revelation

“You knew all that and still let me sleep under the same roof?” Theo asked after summoning a fragment of his cool

“if you think _that_ was the only reason I slept soundly, then you’re dumber than you look” Chris admonished with a smirk, while gesturing to the monitor

“GPS and bio-indicators are still functional though” he pointed out, “it’s how I knew something happened at that old zoo last night”

Theo bit into the inside of his cheek as he stared out at the water

“How I know that despite your convincing outrage, you already knew most of this” Argent continued, not letting up, “or at least had _some_ inclination” he finished with a knowing look

“we can take it off then, right? Since this is all just a farce?” Theo sneered, choosing not to acknowledge that last accusation.

“Follow me” came the reply as Argent got up, stuffing the empty cups back into the take-out bag before leading the way up to the boathouse.

The chimera warily followed at a distance, as he watched the older man fiddle with the lock to the door, before lifting up a rolling metal door to what was definitely more than just a boathouse.

“Here it is” Chris said aloud, finding the key to the ankle-monitor inside a black military-grade equipment case.

Theo lifted up his pant leg and extended his foot out like before, eagerly anticipating his freedom from his black plastic warden.

“That’s it?” he asked as the other man quickly made short work of the device.

Argent nodded as he packed it away back inside the case. “Already cleared everything with Sheriff Stilinski this morning” he explained as he set the case back in its place on the storage rack.

Theo rubbed his hand around where the band had been above his foot, “great, can’t wait to get out of here” he exclaimed

Chris watched as his former captive adjusted to the feeling of no longer having the monitor strapped to his leg, before turning towards whatever was stashed beneath the waist-high beige-drop cloth in the center of the room.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, he withdrew the keys to the truck.

“Almost forgot” he turned back to face the boy, letting the keychain dangle in his hand by the green number nine pool ball.

Theo stood up, letting his pant leg fall back into place as he took a half step forward, anticipating the return of his truck keys.

“Want to know what I think?” Argent asked, looking from the keyring to meet the chimera’s gaze

“Not really” Theo sighed, cursing himself for thinking this would ever be _that_ easy

The old hunter shrugged lightly as he proceeded to offer his thoughts anyway, “I think you didn’t care whether it would shock you or not”

“Oh really?” Theo demurred with an incredulous laugh

Argent nodded, closing his hand completely around the keys; “I think what you’re really afraid of is that there’s something else keeping you here”

Theo shook his head and looked to the side with a huff, “whatever” he muttered

“Here” Argent said tossing the keys in Theo’s direction, “prove me wrong” he challenged

Theo snatched the keys out of mid-air, he made it exactly three steps passed the doorway before he stopped and turned around. This new found conscience was a real pain in the ass sometimes.

“Aren’t you coming?” he asked

Argent didn’t say anything, instead he reached down and tugged at the corner of the dust cover behind him, revealing a classic Triumph motorcycle. “Got my own way back” he answered nonchalantly, straddling the seat and retrieving the helmet.

Theo shrugged, before reaching into his pocket. “Guess you want these back?” he offered getting ready to toss the spare house key set back towards the hunter.

Argent shook his head, “keep it” he insisted, earning a confused look back; “in case I’m right” he clarified

He put the keys back in his pocket and started to turn towards the truck, “Theo” the voice from behind rang out once more. He looked over his shoulder to the opening of the boathouse.

“If you do find yourself in Beacon Hills, door’s always open if you need work or a place” Argent offered one last time

“I’m good” Theo called back with a faux-appreciative wave, before rolling his eyes once he was no longer facing him.

Pulling out from the secluded drive, Theo followed the winding backroads until after a few hours he was finally at the turn-off to the main road in and out of Beacon Hills.

Turn right, and he’d be back within the city limits in no time.

Pulling the turn-signal lever on the steering column, he looked in both directions for any oncoming cars before he made his choice.

Left.


	5. Need You Now

Chapter 5: Need You Now

Liam slammed his locker shut as he finished gathering the last of his equipment. Normally his Saturdays passed quickly, but this one seemed to be enjoying watching him suffer in its wait. The hours felt like days as he tried in vain to find ways to make this pass quicker, to just get it over with already.

He was the first of the team in the locker room, getting there just moments after Coach. Now he could hear the other team through the walls in the guest locker room; there was maybe 45 minutes until the game started?

A whistle blast interrupted his thoughts, as Corey and Nolan moved in next to him alongside the rest of the team. Coach finally emerging from his office to go over the plays for tonight’s game, and without fail recount the full speech from _Independence Day_.

\-------

He had _tried_. Tried to keep driving north up the coast, tried to not give Argent the smug satisfaction of being right.

But no matter how many mile markers he put in his rear-view mirror between himself and Beacon Hills, he couldn’t get the look on Liam’s face out of his head from the other night. The fatalistic indifference as he offered the pair of tickets intended for his parents to the lacrosse game tonight.

Theo hadn’t said he would go, but he hadn’t refused as strongly as he could have either.

“I’ll see” was all he said after reluctantly taking them from Liam’s outstretched hand; the slightest smirk on the other’s face, the same as when he’d agree to their meetups at the zoo, giving him feelings of . . . _guilt?_

Was it guilt? Was it _more_ than guilt? Guilt for what? _Leaving without saying something_ , he answered his own internal inquisition.

With a deep sigh, he slowed the truck in the left lane before pulling an immediate U-turn via the cutaway in the median.

Now highway-bound for Beacon Hills, he set the cruise after hitting 20 over the limit.

_Should make it back just in time_ , he thought after doing the mental math. Just as long as he didn’t get pulled over.

\-------

They were well into the second quarter, and things were going better than Liam would have thought. His plan was working.

They weren’t exactly _winning_ , but at least he wasn’t on the verge of another panic attack. The benefit to having co-captains, is that by definition there is more than one team captain. So, for this game Liam would do his captain-ing from the sidelines, while Nolan handled things on the field.

It was perfect, everything was going just fine.

“Are you sure about this, Dunbar?” Coach asked doubtfully, as they flipped through their playbooks, trying to counter Devenford Prep’s strategy.

“You made him co-captain for a reason” Liam replied, playing to his ego

“I did, didn’t I?” Coach replied, his own prior confidence serving to assuage the doubts the scoreboard was leaving.

Liam glanced behind him into the stands, past the student section and over to where the guests and other parents were seated.

He instantly kicked himself as he felt his heart sink a little further; as if somehow just by checking he had jinxed the outcome. At least if he didn’t look, he couldn’t know for certain that he _wasn’t_ coming tonight.

Liam shook his head to clear his thoughts of the quantum logic puzzle that was taking away from his lacrosse focus.

Observing or not observing Theo wouldn’t determine his presence; he wasn’t Schrödinger's cat.

A commotion on the field and flurry of whistle blasts brought his attention back to the still ongoing game; players from both sides crowding around each other near the center of the field as the referee and both teams’ coaches ran out to investigate.

Someone was hurt.

Liam jogged onto the field and parted his way through his teammates while blocking out the squabbling from the coaches. The Devenford player had already gotten to his feet, easily twice the size of the guy he had just climbed off of, and now Liam could finally tell who that was. Nolan.

_Shit_ he thought

The former enemy, turned co-captain and pack ally was still disoriented from the blow, the wind having been knocked out of him when he landed on his back.

While the coaches argued about whether it was legal check or a foul warranting an ejection, Liam knelt down and helped his fallen comrade sit up. “You okay?” he asked, watching as Nolan’s eyes finally seemed to focus on where he was speaking, “how many fingers am I holding up?”

“3? Wait, does the thumb count?” Nolan replied, still a little dizzy from the hit,

Liam nodded; _probably not a concussion_ he thought with a sigh of relief.

As he tried to get to his feet, Liam grabbed Nolan’s arm and attempted to help him up, throwing his right arm over his left shoulder so he could avoid putting any weight on his foot.

“Can you walk?” Liam asked, concerned. The instant wince at just touching the ground with the injured side answering his question

“my leg kind of hurts, think I rolled my ankle when I fell” Nolan said with a groan

Looking down Liam saw a trickle of bright red from where the opposing player’s stick had left a mild gash on Nolan’s right shin; just below that the young hunter’s foot was contorted in an almost inhuman direction.

With an approving nod from Coach, Liam helped his co-captain hobble off the field to the nearest bench on the sidelines while they awaited the team medic.

Nolan watched as dark black lines briefly flashed up his arm and over to Liam’s as the latter helped him ease his way onto the bench.

“Thanks” he whispered just so Liam could hear, grateful for the supernatural pain relief

Liam nodded as he took on the other’s pain; its biting edge helping to temporarily bury the anxiety building in his head, as he tried to brace himself for what had to follow next.

He was going to have to play.

\-------

Liam watched as his breath turned to bursts of clouds outside his helmet, as he stood in position on the field watching the clock tick down nervously.

He had gone over the next play with Coach while the mandatory timeout from the referee ran down. The team knew what to do; he looked to his left and then to his right, noting where each of his teammates were beside him. Corey was in goal behind them, spinning his stick nervously as they all awaited the next whistle blast signaling the start of the final half.

He stared down the line of players opposite him from his old school, trying to make out the faces behind the guards of their helmets. The white and green uniforms started to blend together in his head.

_“The sun . . .the moon . . .the truth_ ” he tried murmuring to himself, closing his eyes.

It wasn’t helping.

Turning to check the stands one last time, he scanned the crowd for signs of Theo.

_Nothing_

He could feel the wave of anger pulse through him, handedly overtaking the anxiety and fear before it. Anger was something he could direct though. 

_Let go of what you **can’t** control, focus on what you **can**_ Theo’s words echoed through his head

He cracked his neck to the side and steeled himself to be ready for the next play, a low snarl just barely escaping. Staying angry at Theo might just win him the game. Or at least keep him from tearing apart Devenford Prep.

A whistle blast sounded as the timer ran out.

The final half had begun.

\-------

Theo pulled his dark blue Toyota Tundra into the closest parking spot he could find in the lot outside the school. He was pretty sure it was a handicapped spot too, as he got out. Oh well.

As he walked up to the gate he noticed as the kid taking the tickets was closing out the register and packing his stuff away. Looked to be about a sophomore, maybe two or three years younger than him at most.

“Can I still get in?” he asked, adjusting the bag over his shoulder and holding out a ticket in the direction of the volunteer.

The guy at the gate waved him off as he finished locking up. “Don’t bother, game’s already over”

Theo looked over as he finally noticed that the people walking about were actually _leaving._ A defeated sigh escaped him as he wadded the ticket into a ball and tossed it towards a nearby trash bin.

“Not a Devenford fan I take it?” the kid behind the gate chuckled amusingly as he watched Theo throw away the ticket.

“Not exactly” the chimera answered

“After _that_ loss, I don’t envy anyone on that team” the other boy continued to chatter, “gonna be a rough bus-ride home”

“think the Beacon Hills players are still out there?” Theo asked, clinging to even the slightest chance that he might not have totally blown this

“Got friends on the team?” the gatekeeper followed; Theo couldn’t tell if curiosity or dumb high-school social pyramid envy

“Something like that” the chimera mused, starting to grow impatient

“Some of them might still be in the locker room” the kid started, “that is if they’re no-”

Theo cut him off with a curt wave and silent _thanks_ as he headed off in that direction

“-t already at a party” the lone ticket-taker finished to himself with a sigh.

\-------

It was hardly an easy win, but it was still a win Liam thought as he tried not to react too much; instead letting his teammates revel in their successes, as they held up the newest member of the team who had managed to score the game winning shot. A shot passed to him by Liam, for the record, but still the one that pushed the points on the board in favor of Beacon Hills.

He took a breath, not that long ago he wouldn’t have even tried passing the ball, instead furiously attempting to make every goal himself no matter how many people got in his way.

“In a minute” he had responded to Corey and Mason asking if he was coming to the win party. He wanted to check on Nolan first, he told them, earning understanding affirmations in return.

It wasn’t a lie. He _was_ going to check back in the locker-room with Coach to make sure his co-captain was okay.

Just, there was something about this victory that felt almost hollow to him; somehow not complete.

\-------

Theo burst through the doors to the home team locker area, looking around for any signs that Liam might still be around.

The place was a deserted mess; near as Theo could tell anyone that _had_ been here left in quite the rush.

Wandering about, his hopes sinking lower with each step, Theo kept searching; maybe if he found his locker . . .

A door opened from the other side of the locker room, a middle-aged man in a hardly fitting BHHS Phys. Ed. Dept sweatshirt emerged, still running a towel through his wet hair.

Over all the other smells in the room, Theo could still pick out the blue Gatorade that was puddled from where he first came in. Honestly, that was probably a good thing.

“The price of victory, am I right?” Coach asked, as he finished with the towel.

“I uh, guess? Theo hazarded, not fully sure what the man was referring to

“They know I hate it too!” Coach continued, “I mean who _likes_ getting an ice-filled cooler dumped over them?!” he lamented

Theo stood silently letting the older man finish his diatribe.

“You looking to sign up?” Coach finally asked, gesturing to the lacrosse stick poking out from the bag Theo had slung over his shoulder, “we are down a player, an-”

Theo cut him off, “no, I was uh, is Liam still around?” he asked

Coach ran his hand through his hair, “Dunbar?” he followed, trying to match names to players in his head, “probably off with the rest of those hooligans celebrating or something” he muttered

Reaching into his bag, Theo started to pull out the lacrosse stick Liam had given him; “Could you give him this, and tell him I stopped by?” the chimera requested earnestly

“Tell him yourself! What do I look like, the postal service?!” came the wild-eyed accusatory refusal, “and that better not be one of mine!” he added gesturing towards the stick

Theo turned around with a huff and started back towards the exit, “don’t worry” he shouted back, gritting through his teeth “it’s not”.

Throwing the bag roughly in the passenger seat, he started his truck and headed out of the parking lot.

He had tried at least.

_That’s not good enough,_ the voice ran through his head as he watched the familiar signs pass by on his way out of Beacon Hills.

He looked up at his rearview mirror, there was no one in the back-seat this time, just his own dark stare looking back at him, “ _have you met me?”_ he rhetorically tried to counter his reflection.

Didn’t make it feel less wrong.

\-------

Liam walked into the locker room, having finally willed himself to get excited for the victory party almost everyone else was at. He’d ask Coach about Nolan, then change out of his gear and enjoy the rest of the night. Easy.

The door to Coach’s office was cracked open and the light was still on, so Liam stepped inside. He watched for a few moments as the man frantically sorted the play sheets into whatever manic system of order, he kept them in.

“What?” Coach asked, not looking up from his desk

“Wanted to check on Nolan?” Liam asked half-heartedly

“Holloway?” Coach confirmed, gaze now meeting his remaining team captain, “he’ll be alright, have to sit out a few games, but he’ll get over it”

Liam looked relieved; “falling onto that stick was a nice play, the ref looked like they were going to pass out; good thing the kid’s a bleeder” Coach added

“Right. . .” came the unsettled trailing response from the beta as he turned to leave

He wasn’t two steps out of the doorway before he heard a clipboard fall and his name echo out of the office. “Dunbar!” Coach called out

Liam leaned back into the doorframe

“There was uh something I was supposed to mention now” the older man tried racking his short-term memory. All these teenagers blended together after a while.

“Oh!” he said, finally finding the mental post-it note he briefly lost.

“there was a guy here looking for you earlier, your uh uh boyfriend? . . .” Coach speculated uncertainly before continuing, “about your height, green eyes, sort of broody?” he rambled on with his description, “trying to return a lacrosse stick I think?”

_Theo_ Liam immediately thought, his priorities instantly changed. _So, he **had** made it here_

“He’s not. . .” Liam instinctively began, “never mind” he didn’t have time for this as he bolted for the exit to the locker room.

\-------

“He’s not here Liam” came the response from the other end of the line before Liam ended the call.

It was a gamble, a long-shot but it was the one place Liam could think of that Theo might’ve gone to if he wasn’t with Argent.

That is if he hadn’t left Beacon Hills entirely.

He brought his Bronco to a screeching stop just past the sign for the old zoo, not bothering to care what, if any, parking spaces he blocked.

The dark blue Tundra just ahead of him told him he wasn’t too late.

Rushing past the entrance he stopped just short of the picnic area just in front of the faux grotto opposite the field; the spot where they had spent many an afternoon hiding away from their worries, their fears, their nightmares, if only for a handful of hours.

There in the silverly moonlight, taking his place on top of _their_ table, Theo sat facing out towards the tree-line, his back turned to the direction Liam was approaching from. As he drew nearer, he noticed the lacrosse stick also laying on top of the table dividing each side lengthwise.

Liam sat down diagonally across from him on the other side of the table facing towards the zoo, keeping the lacrosse stick between them.

“Hey” he said over his left shoulder, not yet daring to turn around

“Hey” eventually came Theo’s uneasy response

They sat there in silence for a bit, just like they had so many times before. This time felt different though. Even nature itself seemed to hold its breath over this moment, not a cricket chirping, and even the moon seemed to freeze along its celestial track.

“Coach said you stopped by the locker room after the game?” Liam started, “wasn’t sure you were gonna show up”

“Yeah” Theo replied, taking in a deep breath, “I tried”

“You still came” Liam corrected, looking over his shoulder this time.

“from what I hear you still did alright anyway” the chimera answered, letting the breath out and turning his gaze to the gravel just past the tips of his boots; “told you, you could get by without me” he added, trying just as much to convince himself as he was the boy behind him.

“I still needed you” Liam confessed

Theo’s heart stopped for a few beats at that; there it was, what he was afraid of.

“You shouldn’t” was all he said

“You can’t control what you feel, but you can control how you direct it” Liam quoted back the other’s words; “so instead of being afraid of losing control at the game, I chose to be angry at you”

The chimera finally turned a raised eyebrow at the beta behind him

“Yeah, you” Liam indignantly accused, “mom and Dr. Geyer are a couple time zones away; you can’t even leave this zip code”

“It’s more complicated th-” Theo started

“Always is” Liam dismissed, “What would you have done if you _had_ taken Scott’s powers? What was your plan after becoming an alpha?” he continued accelerating his tirade straight to one-hundred

Theo got up from the table, ready to storm off; he was free now, wasn’t he? He didn’t have to listen to this.

He heard Liam’s footsteps as the beta mirrored his actions, following behind him past the cages along the entrance to the zoo; the abandoned stick in his hand.

Screw that.

Theo turned around to face him, “that was about survival!” he shouted defensively

Liam stared at him, there wasn’t anger or judgement in his eyes like the times they fought before.

“There’s more to life than just surviving, Theo” he called back

Theo bit the inside of his cheek as he looked away. Why did the compassion hurt worse than being reviled?

“Go if you want to” Liam said, “but don’t act surprised when the people that counted on you get hurt”

“You don’t need me” Theo _pleaded_ , eyes starting to water

“You don’t get to decide that” Liam countered defiantly, taking another step forward, closing the distance between them. “letting other people care, doesn’t make you weak”

Theo thought back to when he was trying to turn Scott’s pack against him. He didn’t go after the alpha directly; he went after those that he cared about. A lifetime spent mastering how to inflict the worst kind of pain, and simultaneously shield himself from it, only for this stubborn blue-eyed beta to put him right in the line of fire.

“It does when you care for them back” he finally said, meeting Liam’s eyes directly. He could almost feel the other’s breath against his cheeks.

“Then find a way to make that weakness a strength” Liam said, still looking right into Theo’s pained sea-green stare, with barely inches separating them now

“cages work both ways” he echoed the other’s earlier advice

Theo closed his eyes and nodded his head, as a tear ran down his cheek. He was completely vulnerable right now and it absolutely terrified him.

Then Liam took a chance and closed the gap. Leaning forward he let his lips brush lightly against Theo’s as they stood there in the moonlit embrace of the abandoned zoo.

“you might not be in Scott’s pack, but what about mine?” he whispered, pulling just barely away

Theo could feel every word against his lips.

He didn’t answer right away, and even then, not with his words; instead lifting a nervous, cold, shaky hand to the back of Liam’s neck and pulling the other’s lips back onto his.

This time more fully

This time without fear

Eventually they had to part; needing to breathe was a bitch like that sometimes.

“If this is a cage, then I don’t want to be free” Theo said at last

Liam thought for a moment, and then added perhaps the most profound thing Theo had ever heard him say:

**“maybe love is just a cage we build for ourselves”**


End file.
